


Unforeseen Circumstances

by priestess_juno



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Blood and Injury, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Implied Relationships, Jealousy, Love Triangles, Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 03:25:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 49,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19899076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/priestess_juno/pseuds/priestess_juno
Summary: Unrequited love is the most painful thing to feel, and yet, Fuuka is persuaded to try her hands at getting Junpei’s attention, no matter what. However, after multiple failed attempts, what will she do when she catches the eye of the boy with the maroon peacoat? The heartache that comes with falling in love might even be more than she bargained for. But, would her sacrifice be in vain?





	1. The Beginning of the End

_**October 4th, 2009** _

Her heart was racing and pounding in her ears—she told the twins that she knew where Shinjiro and Ken was. And, on top of sensing those two, she shivered and felt Takaya was nearby as well. She didn’t have the heart to tell anyone because if all of her friends were holding her back, then this attempt to save their lives will be futile.

Fuuka Yamagishi held her evoked closer to her chest, knowing that if she couldn’t run faster, someone would get hurt—or die. She knew deep down that Takaya was filled with malice over wanting her down and out—they did still have Chidori to this day. It ached her heart knowing that what she was going to do may be the dumbest, stupidest, and idiotic thing she ever did. It would top anything Junpei ever did.

Even if it was for someone she loved and that love was unrequited.

Feeling beads of sweat running down her face as she carefully maneuvered the train tracks back to Iwatodai. She cursed softly, wishing that Lucia’s power was so much stronger—she could barely sense Ken and Shinjiro as far as they could be from the whole group. She assumed Akihiko and Mitsuru had a reasoning as to why they were together, but Fuuka has no time to listen to them.

As she made it carefully off of the tracks and into Port Island Station, she heard a gunshot ringing throughout the surrounding area. Her heart dropped to the center of the Earth as she shook her head—this was becoming more serious that she thought. She had to stop her legs from shaking and knowing this was best for her allies, and for her.

Lucia urges Fuuka toward the boys—she didn’t really need her help since the smell of gunpowder was enough to draw anyone awake from their coffin-like status. Once she was within meters of them, she took a couple deep breaths and listened in on the conversation around a corner—she had to be careful on how to walk into the situation.

Her eyes darted to Shinjiro clinching his stomach in pain—the smell of copper lead to her seeing blood oozing from his side. She almost gagged—Fuuka’s hand moved from her mouth and back to her heart. Fuuka forgot to give back Shinjiro’s pocketwatch to him—she found it by asking Officer Kurosawa if there was anything in he lost and found. She found an old pocket watch with someone’s date of birth and initials. Obviously, she deducted it was Shinjiro’s by the initials and by asking Kurosawa if it was his. It took her a good few days to get the clockwork fixed and all shiny. But she never could give it back to him.

And she feared she would never be able to.

Fuuka’s heart strings tugged at her as she could see Takaya playing with his revolver. “Now,” Takaya moves a little closer to the SEES members, his voice getting rough and annoyed, “there is one among you that has the power just like Chidori does. Where **are** they?” He uttered, pointing the gun towards the injured Shinjiro.

She could sense the turmoil inside of Ken and Shinjiro’s hearts—they knew it was her, they knew if they told Takaya, she’d be targeted. All because they have Chidori and they don’t have Fuuka. Before Ken could speak, Fuuka took a leap of faith and walked into the scene, under the shadows, as her knees were buckling under the pressure.

“It’s me.”

Shinjiro and Ken’s eyes darted quickly towards the petite female.

“Yamagishi—! No!” Shinjiro cried out as he winced in pain, even though he moved a millimeter—the bullet was doing more damage if he even moved a bit.

Takaya let out a laugh that echoed all around them, but then frowned. “Is this a joke? …why have you appear now?”

Fuuka gripped her evoked again, still against her chest, knowing she had to keep cool, calm, and collected. Outwardly she was, but internally, she was freaking out. “Because I sensed them from where we battled the full moon shadows.” She slowly spoke. Fuuka was speaking the truth—she then saw Ken coward behind Shinjiro, knowing he was the most vulnerable at the moment.

Takaya considered the few words that Fuuka spoke. He considered that she looked weakly, that she could sense them from a considerable amount of distance, and within seconds he pointed the loaded gun towards Fuuka. She put her evoker down to her leg and into its holder. Fuuka put her right hand up to her chest, only to try to calm her rapid heartbeat. Closing her eyes, she felt how heavy and tense the situation was now.

She could sense the others would be here in a couple minutes—Lucia was unknowingly sending a distress signal to the others. If she didn’t do anything to save Shinjiro and Ken—but then, a thought came to her mind. _If only I could stall, everyone would get here and then everyone would be fine until the Dark Hour ends. Would even Takaya—?_

“ **She** …will do.”

Fuuka’s eyes shot open the moment she heard the gun go off. She could hear Shinjiro and Ken’s screams mellow out of existence as she felt the bullet grazing her hand and her chest being pelted by the bullet. A small ding could be heard, but it was drowned out by the boy’s cries and screams for her. It took Fuuka a moment to realize what really happened. Her hand dropped to her side as she noticed blood flowing off her hand and down her chest.

_This is how it should be, right? …an eye for an eye? A navigator…for …another?_

Her fingers dripped with blood as Takaya let out a boisterous laugh as it echoed in the alleyway, as if the Reaper was laughing along with him. She fell to her knees as Ken darted to her side—she saw that her vision was fading. She could feel the others coming around the corner—she could barely see Akihiko screaming out his Persona’s name, trying to attack Takaya who was already long gone; Minako immediately went to Shinjiro, so did Mitsuru, too.

Fuuka felt ridiculous. She was literally bleeding for a boy she cared so much for, and yet he still drew the eyes of their leader to her. Minato and Junpei went towards her as she lowered her head, hiding the tears that were falling from her eyes as Minato checked her horrid wound. They didn’t care about what happened in the past– _she_ was more important now.

“The…the idiot—!” Shinjiro cried out, taking a heavy deep breath. “—she offered herself in f-front of Takaya—!” He coughed, spitting up some blood as Minako tried to heal his wounds with some bandages. Shinjiro got up slowly, darting his eyes at Fuuka and feeling his heart twinge in pain and worry.

Fuuka leaned towards Junpei, the one closest to her, as her blood began to stain her clothes and his as well. “Why…? Why Fuuka? Wh-what was the point!?” He whispered softly to her as he saw Minato taking her pulse. His worried eyes said it all—Minato had an idea, but magic wouldn’t work since something of this magnitude couldn’t be healed by something this bad.

Ken was shaking with fear and anxiety—his friends got injured and yet, he was unscathed. Akihiko noticed this and pulled him closer to him in a side hug. Fuuka lifted her head slowly, seeing everyone’s eyes on her, especially Shinjiro’s. They eyes linked for but a moment, as she closed her eyes. “T-tell Shinjiro…senpai…” she whispered as she watched Minato coming closer to her. “…I am sorry…a-about his pocket watch. …I-I think the bullet…” Fuuka gripped Junpei and Minato’s arms as she let out a heartfelt cry of pain, sorrow, and heartache.

Yukari felt anxious now, beginning to voice her concerns. “Isn’t the Dark Hour almost over?” Fear began to shine in her eyes as Junpei began to pick her up and nodded along with Minato. It seemed they have the right idea and thought at the same time.

“…we should get going. By the time we get to the hospital, the Dark Hour should end…” Junpei murmured softly, feeling as if this was going to be futile. He turned towards his allies and Minato began to list commands out to SEES. “Sanada-senpai, Kirijo-senpai, sister… we need to get them both to the hospital—it’s only a stone’s throw away. Junpei and I will take Fuuka—you guys should take Aragaki-senpai. Yukari, Aigis, Koromaru,” the dog barked as he heard his name, “take Ken-kun back to the dorm. He needs some support and to keep him distracted.” He mentioned to them quietly as Junpei could feel the cold blood hitting his shoes.

As Junpei watched his senpais and their other leader take off with Shinjiro, Junpei began to take a mad dash with Minato at their side. He had to shake his head to remove the negative thoughts. _She will make it—she is strong. She is strong. She is—_

Junpei kept pounding those words into his head as he felt his blood run cold the moment Fuuka’s body went limp. _Just how much blood…has she lost!?_ Junpei felt his eyes grow as he pulled at Minato’s arm, his head shaking as they tried to pick up the pace even more. His heart ached as sweat rolled down his face and his back—he was in saying that once they got to the hospital the Dark Hour would end.

However, it wasn’t saying much as Fuuka was slowly fading in Junpei’s arms, the color already drained from her face as if she decided to give up already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to try this pairing out, since I already roleplay Fuuka, and my first RP was with a Shinjiro. It almost clicked immediately. That was 7 years ago. This plot idea came to my mind while I was sleeping: "What if Takaya took Fuuka's live instead of Shinjiro's? HE WAS looking for her!" And this is that creation!  
> I am hoping to have more chapters out every couple days, since I've gotten most of the chapters completed--just need to proofread it. :D
> 
> Feel free to leave reviews because I'd love to learn from you all what I miss and how to improve on it. :)


	2. Climbing Up Towards Hope

##  _ Chapter 2;; Climbing Up Towards Hope _

> _Flashback — September 2nd_   
> 

Fuuka was beyond excited, and it was all thanks to Natsuki. A few days ago, Natsuki won a free ramen lunch at a raffle place just down the street from the dorms. Natsuki was gonna to invite Fuuka, but realized that she had family plans and gave it to Fuuka. She stated that she could go with “that someone she adores” and Fuuka protested.

_I don’t have a special someone. …okay, maybe I do have someone I envy._

She had her sights on the one guy who complimented her at the beach over a month ago: Junpei Iori. Fuuka enjoyed his jokes, albeit perverted sometimes, and loved his laugh. It was the little things she liked about him, but she never knew how to get close to him. Until today.

As she walked down the stairs, she was slightly relieved to see only a few people: Yukari, who was deeply emerged in a novel, Shinjiro, who was in the kitchen preparing food for Koromaru, Minako, who was doing some homework, and Junpei, who was reading a new comic book. It seemed as if the circumstances couldn’t be any more perfect.

Fuuka reached into her pocket, pulling out a brand new shiny ticket for ramen—buy one get one free—and they could go together and have fun. Just the two of them—the thought made Fuuka smile and hopeful. She almost began to skip down the stairs, trying her hardest to hide her happiness. Fuuka let out a force cough, making Junpei, Minako, and Yukari turn towards her.

“Hmm? What is it Fuuka-tan?” Junpei asked, putting down his comic book as Fuuka was trying to hide her shit eating grin on her lips. “What are you so happy about?”

_That was obvious, wasn’t it?_

“Well, I thought you would like this.” Fuuka handed him the coupon to the ramen place as Junpei read it and let the gears in his head turn. “…Natsuki couldn’t go, s-so I thought that maybe you’d like this and could take someone with you…”

“W-whoa! Fuuka, this is amazing!” Junpei jumped up, moving his comic to the coffee table in front of him as he walked over to Minako as she trilled her pencil in her fingers. “Heyyyy, Mina-tan—wanna go with me? It looks like it is only good for today!”

_…wait. …what? But…!_

“…Sure. I can take a break from studying. But,” Minako stated as she noticed her eyes trained onto Fuuka’s face. She could tell that Fuuka was defeated, that this was supposed to be for them both. Minako got the idea, but before she could say anything, Fuuka pipped up.

“N-no, no. You both go ahead—I got some studying to do, anyway.” Fuuka waved her hand at them, trying to not let Minako know that she wasn’t okay with this, but she was used to it.

Junpei grinned as he ran up to his room. This gave Minako a chance to be with Fuuka. “Fuuka, are you sure? I don’t want to take this away from you. I’m sure you wanted this to be a da—”

“No. I…I think he’ll enjoy it more with _you_ around rather than me. I-I’ll just try again later. Just have a great time, okay?” Fuuka smiled as she could feel Junpei rushing pass her, as if she was invisible, as Minako nodded slowly.

“If you say so—I’ll at least tell you how it goes, if Junpei doesn’t eat it all.” Minako promised, holding up her pinkie finger as she left the dorm with Junpei in tow. Fuuka felt as if 20 pounds was just added to her back—it made her feel heavy, depressed, and a bit on the sad side.

Fuuka sighed as she moved towards the kitchen to see what Shinjiro was cooking. _Hmmm…sushi. That won’t be too bad tonight. Haven’t had Aragaki-senpai’s sushi yet._ She was deep in thought as she sat on the bar stool, trying to get her mind away from Junpei, which wasn’t working. Yukari slightly frowned—she wished Fuuka was more determined to go after him. There was no one on Junpei’s radar, that she could of know, so why didn’t he try to talk her into going?

Shinjiro could see Fuuka staring at his food, but didn’t know that she was just staring and not paying attention. He waved his hand a few times in her face as she blushed lightly, shaking her head to bring her attention back to the real world.

“Tch. He’s a dumbass.” He mentioned as he carefully rolled the sushi together with the seaweed. “Wouldn’t even know if someone’s hitting on him unless they were hitting him with something.”

Fuuka bit her lip. “…I’m an idiot, right?” Shinjiro blinked, surprised to hear something like that come out of her lips. “…he has someone else, I just know it. Lucia has been keeping small Intel on everyone—Minato’s worn out from track meets, Ken is trying to drink more milk (and hates it), and Junpei has been even more distracted, in school and in battle. Now… **now** it makes sense…” Fuuka crossed her arms and laid them on the counter, her head on top of them.

Shinjiro put a couple sushi rolls on a plate and handed them to Fuuka. “So? Fuck him—there are many other people to talk to. Iori is just…stupid.”

Yukari walked over and nodded, carrying her novel in her hand. “He _is_ called Stupei for a reason, Fuuka. Don’t forget that.” She put her hand on her shoulder. “Besides, senpai is right—and if he doesn’t reciprocate the feelings, then that’s on him.”

“…Yeah, I guess you are right, Yukari-chan.” She giggled as she turned to offer her some of Shinjiro’s sushi. “Want to try one with me? Smells like…” Fuuka sniffed it and looked at it more. “Is that crab…with cucumber and avocado?” Fuuka took a bite, a smile forming on her lips. “Ahhh! Delicious! The avocado makes the sushi sweeter—is it really that simple, Aragaki-senpai?”

Shinjiro was slightly surprised that Fuuka could tell ingredients were in it before even tasting it. He was amused to say the least. “Most of the time—fresh avocado makes the sushi sweeter or tangy, depending on who made it.” He crossed his arms as both girls finished the taste testing of his new sushi. “I’ll make some more for your lunches.”

Fuuka nodded as Yukari licked her fingers, responding with “Yes, I’d like to have some—don’t leave **any** for Junpei.” Yukari giggled as Fuuka smiled softly, finishing up her sushi roll. Yukari made it upstairs and Koromaru took her warm seat. Fuuka looked up at Shinjiro, a small smile on her lips.

“I…I appreciate this. I hope I could cook with you and learn your techniques.”

“Yeah, I’ll think about it. For now,” he took her plate and put it into the sink, “don’t let Iori get in your head. If he is sorry, he’ll apologize and make it up to you. Don’t let a guy like that get you down.”

Fuuka nodded and got off of her chair. “Thank you, senpai. I’ll do my best—I promise.” She held up her pinkie finger, knowing that her brain and her heart were two separate beings who had different plans in mind for her.

* * *

> _**Flash forward – October 6th** _

Shinjiro finally opened up his eyes, feeling as if Death took his body through Hell, and Heaven, Purgatory, and back to the living an infinite amount of times. He saw Minako and Ken sleeping in chairs by his bed.

_So, I’m alive. …!_

He sat up slowly, seeing the nasty stitches and staples he had down by his waist, as he instantly thought of Fuuka. He looked around the room, noticing that no one else was in the room—must have been Mitsuru who gave him his own room that was big enough for two people to stay. Either that, or Fuuka was in worse shape than he was.

Shinjiro winced in pain, grunting loudly, as it woke up Minako from her light sleep. Her eyes grew as she felt her heart skipping a beat. “Shinjiro…!” She whispered as she moved towards his bed, scooting her chair closer. “…are you okay? Are you in pain?” She asked as Shinjiro nodded after pondering if he was in pain for a few seconds. “Should I…?”

He shook his head. “I’ll be fine—just want to know about Fuuka. Is she…?”

Minako bit her lip as she reached for his hand, rubbing the top of his hand with her fingers. “She is alive. Barely, but the machines are helping her breathe, currently. The bullet was luckily intact, so it didn’t do any more damage. The bullet nicked her aorta and superior vena cava, meaning that she had to go into surgery immediately.” Minako slowly said as Shinjiro watched her lips and could barely pay attention. “Like, the bullet went in between the aorta and superior vena cava—we believed it was because of this—” Minako pulled out the pocket watch that was Shinjiro’s in the first place.

Shinjiro felt his hand shake as he reached for it—the bullet left a nasty mark on the outer shell of the watch, but surprisingly, it was still ticking. “…shit—where did you find this?” He asked, showing that he was really not paying any attention at all.

“…Fuuka had it. It was in her pocket, in front of our uniform. She… …I think she was going to give this to you, but never had the time to.”

Shinjiro carefully took the pocket watch out of her hand, his hands trembling with fear, relief, but heartache came in quickly as he felt tears escaping his eyes and stinging his eyes. He was silent, and so was Minako, as they just watch the tears fall.

“…would you like to see her? I'll…have to wheel you into her room—she’s in the ICU.” Minako suggested as Shinjiro gripped the pocket watch and swung his legs around, ready to walk to her room. “H-hey! Shinjiro-senpai!” Minako cried out as she could see him suffering a bit. After a couple minutes of telling him to hold his horses, she got him a wheelchair, sat him down in it, and took his morphine bag with him—after convincing the doctor that he’ll be back in a moment. That seem to worn down Minako herself, but was determined to get Shinjiro to Fuuka.

“Now, before you see her, Fuuka… …you might get overwhelmed and surprised by how she looks. Her surgery took half a day as she lost a lot of blood.” Minako wasn’t trying to sugar coat everything, but the way Fuuka truly looked, it was a sight that would scare anyone, maybe Shinjiro would be terrified, if not sick to his stomach. “If you want to leave, you let me know, okay? I’ll take you back down to your room.”

Shinjiro nodded slowly, knowing that he wasn’t probably going to be prepared for this. Minako stopped in front of her room, noting that Yukari and Junpei were outside—they didn’t say much as Yukari held a tissue in her hand. Junpei lowered his hat over his eyes, trying to hide any emotions that appeared from his eyes—on top of Fuuka and Chidori in the same hospital, and for two different reasons, he was a bit of a mess.

Minako lightly tapped on the door. Within seconds, Akihiko came to the door, looking down to see Shinjiro, as he nodded slowly and let them both in. The moment he heard the monitors and saw the tubes, he wasn’t surprised at how much attention she was getting, but how much room was taken up simply by the machines was a surprise. Shinjiro almost leaped out of his chair the moment he saw Fuuka’s body—it made her look so much smaller, and weaker than before.

Mitsuru was observing Shinjiro carefully, to make sure he wasn’t hurting himself either, as she turned to Minako. “If you would like, you may leave. Akihiko and I will stay and take care of them both, leader.” Mitsuru suggested as Minako rubbed her arm.

“Y-yeah. I’ll go get Ken-kun and head back to the dorm—I think he’s exhausted.” She murmured as she kissed the top of Shinjiro’s head and left the room, sliding the door back in place. Once she left, the tension in the room seem to grow even more.

Shinjiro carefully reached for Fuuka’s hand—he couldn’t believe that just one little bullet could so much damage. He turned towards Mitsuru once he grabbed her hand and carefully held it. “…is she going to make it?” Shinjiro whispered as Mitsuru got up from her seat and sighed heavily.

“…I am hoping so. As for now, you two are out with your injuries. The best of the best operated on her—she made it through but now it’ll only be a waiting game. They put her in a medically induced coma so her body can heal.” Mitsuru explained as she looked at her chart. “She’s steady in all departments—BP, pulse, oxygen levels, you name it. But–”

“…we are out a navigator, correct?” Shinjiro finished what she might be thinking. Mitsuru lowered her chart and stared at Shinjiro. “So, what? What the hell are we going to do?! We can’t let Takaya get away with this-!”

Akihiko put his hand on Shinjiro’s shoulder. “Shinji…”

“Sh-…shit…” He lowered his head and rubbed the top of her hand in small circles. “…my pocket watch saved her life—and I can’t do shit for her!” Shinjiro cried out in pain as he felt the pocket watch gain some weight on his hospital gown pocket. He winced as Mitsuru crossed the room slowly and sat down on Fuuka’s bed. She rubbed his back as he felt a tear escape the corner of his eye.

“Shinjiro. We won’t let that happen—we will make sure that Takaya faces consequences. But, for now, you need rest. We all need rest. Baby steps, Shinjiro. That is what we will do.” Mitsuru wasn’t sure how to comfort someone like Shinjiro—it was odd, knowing that this was happening to someone whom they all counted on to help, no matter the situation.

Shinjiro nodded slowly, letting the words get absorbed into his brain. He laid his head on her bed, watching her chest move up and down slowly, as he closed his eyes. “Sorry. I seem to fuck things up, huh, Fuuka?” He whispered as Akihiko and Mitsuru moved away from them and sat in the corner, giving him some space.

_**…senpai… …do…ou….hear… ….me?** _

Shinjiro opened his eyes, quickly, thinking that Fuuka was calling out to him, but thought he was just hallucinating. He knew the medicine was ready to lull him to sleep. He closed his eyes once again, letting sleep pull him back into the depths.

**_… try… lling…out to… …me …my….sona…_ **

He opened his eyes again, wondering if the others could hear it too. “Hey—” He turned around and saw Akihiko asleep on Mitsuru’s shoulder as Mitsuru fell asleep on a pillow. “…so, that’s a no…” Shinjiro whispered as he turned back to Fuuka, nothing changed except her oxygen levels getting higher, as he went back to sleep, making sure that nothing would wake him up this time. Next time, he’ll sleep in his own bed. For now, being by Fuuka’s side was the most important thing to him and the only way he could sleep while knowing she was still alive and breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will get a bit better, since I have a couple friends giving me more feedback on how to address certain situations and if these characters stay IC. I don't know how, but I have been thinking about how the social link between these two would work out--I think majority will be cooking and shooting the breeze, but who knows? I'm excited to know that this story is getting a lot of hits--it's motivational and I appreciate it all--thank you so much! :D
> 
> Also, feel free to leave reviews! I'd like constructive criticism or anything positive heading towards my way, if possible.


	3. Straight Back into Despair

##  Chapter 3;; Straight into Despair

> Flash back — September 4th

Fuuka knew today would be a better day. Junpei almost never did anything the day before a full moon battle. So, she knew his day had to be open. Right?

She walked out of her room, noticing that it was eerily quiet—Koromaru was sleeping on the floor near the stairs and yet, nothing. Fuuka carefully ran down the stairs as she felt her heart sank even more. Only people downstairs were Shinjiro, Mitsuru, and Akihiko.

She looked around for Junpei, as if he was a lost dog. She began by looking in every corner she could think of—behind the counter in the kitchen, the desk by the entrance, but nothing. Mitsuru noticed that Fuuka looked slightly worried and tilted her head as she closed her folder filled with paperwork for her father.

“Yamagishi, you look as if you lost something. Could I be of help?” Mitsuru asked slowly as Fuuka stood straight, a little startled, but shook her head. “Are you looking for someone?”

“Yes—well, I thought Junpei-kun was down here, but maybe I was wrong.”

Akihiko was fixing his boxing gloves as he turned to face Fuuka from the couch. “Oh yeah—! He told me he was going out and won’t be back until later today. Didn’t say why, though.”

Fuuka crestfallen—this was the second time in less than a couple days that she couldn’t get any time alone with him. She began to wonder if this was even beginning to be worth it in the end. She sat down and leaned back in the lounge chair.

Now I look like an idiot. Again.

Shinjiro could sense that Fuuka was beating herself up again. “You should have listen to me, Yamagishi.” He mentioned as he turned on the TV, trying to find something that caught his attention. “Iori is an idiot, remember?”

Fuuka sat up in her chair and pouted. “Yes, I remember fondly of what we spoke up, senpai. Just thought he would stay in—he did the last two times.” Fuuka sighed, wondering what else she could do. “I just don’t want to admit it, yet.”

Akihiko and Mitsuru looked at each other, wondering what in the world they were talking about. Though, they did agree that Junpei was an idiot in his own way. “Shinjiro—” Mitsuru grinned as she knew what was happening. It happened to her a few times in her middle school years. Being duped by a guy who didn’t like her back, though she was the one rejecting them most of the time. “—do you remember that dessert you made for me, a few years back?”

“Mitsuru, I made you a lot of desserts. Be a bit more specific.”

“I was a small, sweet you made. You said that milk chocolate was too sweet so you make dark chocolate.”

Shinjiro took but a moment to think of what Mitsuru enjoyed. “Eclairs. Is that it?”

“But of course! You made them better than the cooks at my family home, Shinjiro. You know, I would—”

“Not going to happen.”

Shinjiro was quick to silence that offer. He hated the idea of charity for himself—couldn’t fantom the idea of working for Mitsuru, someone who helped him so much that returning the favor didn’t seem so favorable to him. Fuuka thought of the idea of eclairs, wondering what they would taste like and smiled.

“Senpai, could we, I don’t know, try to make some?” Fuuka asked, beginning to pull her phone out to look for recipes. “I am sure we can work together and bring about the same sweetness Kirijo-senpai mentioned.”

Shinjiro turned towards Fuuka, his hand putting down the remote and frowning. “…you want to try cooking? I thought you were still a beginner. At least, that’s what our leader kept saying.”

“Well, yes, but I made onigiri the other day without burning the rice.” She held up her finger and pointed towards Shinjiro. “…but that’s all I have been able to make.” She lowered her hand, her finger curling back inward.

Shinjiro crossed his arms, wondering if they even had the ingredients to make said eclairs. He had to close his eyes and think for a while.

We have the simple ingredients, but everything else might have to be bought.

Fuuka didn’t realize how deep in thought Shinjiro was. It made her a bit happy to have someone other than Minako cook with her. “…senpai?” Fuuka called out to him, wondering how deep in thought he really was. Opening his eyes, he turned to Fuuka and got up.

“I will have to go buy the ingredients. Also, we won’t be able to get them done tonight. You’d want the cream to sit overnight. It’ll taste better that way.” Shinjiro explained slowly. “Also, while I’m gone, can you go and check to see if we have a baking sheet and parchment paper?”

Fuuka began to pull a pen and piece of paper from the desk, after she dashed over when Shinjiro decided to list off what they needed “Oooookay.” She finished writing that down and turned back towards Shinjiro as he had his fist holding up his chin. “Anything else?”

Shinjiro shook his head. He moved towards Fuuka, grabbing a piece of paper and looking for a pen. Fuuka gave him hers and she couldn’t believe how fast he was writing down the ingredients. A couple blinks and he was done. I am impressed—he knows more than he lets on. She thought as he read what he wrote. “Yamagishi—”

“Yes?”

“Make sure to keep everyone out of the kitchen when I come back. Because I’ll need your help to make these.” He shoved the list in his pocket as Fuuka watched him leave through the door.

“D-do you need help? Or an extra set of hands?”

Shinjiro stopped as Fuuka asked if he’d need some help. It was odd—no one usually asked him for help, it was the other way around usually when no one even asked for help, he’d help anyone who needed it. “…” he let out a sigh. “Sure, but I’ll carry the bags, before you even ask. And check the kitchen first, before we leave.” Fuuka nodded and made it to the kitchen, double checking everything she was told to find.

Mitsuru got up from her seat and forked Shinjiro a few 1,000 yen. “For this, and for yourself. And no buts.” She stated as she held up her finger to him before he could open his mouth. He grinned and shook his head before pocketing the money.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Mitsuru.”

After several hours passed and many batches of horrible eclairs later, and almost close to midnight, Fuuka was happy to have at least 10 or so eclairs that were passable. Out of the 50 Shinjiro helped her made. “Well, I guess I’m good only 20% of the time.” Fuuka remarked, but still felt proud of herself. “And everyone can have one—except Aigis, and Koromaru-don’t want to make him sick.”

Shinjiro shook his head. “I don’t get it—how can you be so happy about failing 80% of the time? That’s not good, Yamagishi.” He pointed out as he did the dishes. Shinjiro couldn’t understand how she saw the good in the bad.

“I know, but this is something good to look forward to. I couldn’t make anything this great—Minako-chan will be thrilled to try these out.” She smiled. “Maybe she could join us next time.” Fuuka looked up at the clock, noticing how close to midnight it was. At least everyone was safe and back in their rooms. Fuuka put the good eclairs in a container and put them in a place so that Junpei wouldn’t eat them all.

After crossing paths with Shinjiro to put the food away, she felt her heart skip a beat once everything turned dark—the Dark Hour was upon them and Fuuka forgot how dark it really gets. It was eerie, but something she still had to get used to. “…this still scares me after all this time.” She murmured as she had to reach for the flashlight that was next to the fridge. “Perhaps we should head to bed? It’s an early morning for me.”

Shinjiro nodded, but added a small grunt as he could feel his Persona raging inside of him. Fuuka thought it was a sign of confirmation. Shinjiro didn’t want to let go of his shirt, clenching it tightly at his heart. He couldn’t let Fuuka know about this, not her, not yet. However, Fuuka felt something was off, but wasn’t sure what it was. Lucia instantly pushed her towards Shinjiro, Fuuka’s hand reaching out to his freed arm, and something within her made her freeze. Their eyes seemed to glaze over as their minds were filled with a vision.

_It was as if they were in a warm, open meadow-Fuuka’s hair blowing in the breeze, long, loose, and smooth. Shinjiro right in front of her-the air warm and the meadow filled with flowers. Their eyes gazing upon each other, as if they’ve known each other for a long, long time. Fuuka and Shinjiro looked older-more mature and happier, as if something came along and whisked them here, away from reality. As if it was a look into the future yet to be seen._

_She didn’t know if it was Lucia doing it to her or Castor doing it to Shinjiro, but it was a warm sensation going through their bodies. It was as if Lucia was trying to calm the beast within Shinjiro. Fuuka could feel something cold rolling down her face as she could tell if it was her crying or Shinjiro crying._

_Somehow, someway, it worked as Shinjiro began to release his shirt slowly, his fist hurting from how hard he was squeezing his shirt. Fuuka felt as if she was in a trance—her heart pounding in sync with Shinjiro's—as she stared deeply into Shinjiro’s eyes. It was, as if, a red string connected them._

Fuuka had to almost force herself to break the connection. She was in such a deep trance that the Dark Hour was already over. Fuuka didn’t see anything, but Lucia made her feel many things—especially the pain that Castor was giving to Shinjiro. And the softness of Lucia trying to calm someone so untamed.

They both sat in silence—Fuuka didn’t even realize that she was staring at Shinjiro until they broke off from each other. Fuuka removed her hand from his arm, her cheeks flushed red for…embarrassment? Happiness? She couldn’t even distinguish what she felt. “Senpai… …I… did you see…felt what I felt?” She whispered softly as Shinjiro looked at his hand—not clammy like it usually is after a flare up.

_The suppressants…didn’t do half the work of whatever Yamagishi did to me. What the hell…just happened?_

Shinjiro was bewildered at the fact. He just nodded silently, his beanie being pulled downward as he felt uncomfortably…at peace. “…you should go to bed. It’ll be the best.” He somehow let the words fall out of his mouth. Fuuka turned the flashlight off, laid it on the counter, and walked carefully out of the kitchen. Once she got to the stairs, she made a mad dash to her room, as quietly as she could.

Shinjiro put his hand on his chest—his heart pounding normally. It irked him. He reached for the pills inside of his peacoat and looked at them for a moment. For just a nanosecond, he was going to throw them away, down the sink. But he knew it was a fluke. Nothing this good could ever happen to him. Right?

> **Flash forward — October 10th**

“Why the hell isn’t anyone doing anything!?” Shinjiro yelled as he had to be pushed back into his wheelchair by Akihiko.

“Shinji, chill. They are doing all they could for her.” He mentioned, trying to rub his shoulders to release tension. Shinjiro was yelling at Mitsuru, since her family owns the hospital, and not happy that Fuuka seemed to be in the same state she was at the beginning of the week. He turned towards Fuuka and frowned.

“Shinjiro.” Mitsuru sat on the same side Shinjiro was on and leaned towards him. “They are doing the best they can. Yamagishi had a weak constitution before she was even here. You’ve read her files—she never fought off illnesses easily.” Mitsuru slowly explained to him, hoping that would calm him down. She hated to resort to the bitter truth. “Yamagishi might not recover—you need to understand that, Shinjiro.”

Shinjiro shook his head violently. “No! Fuck that! She…” Shinjiro pulled his beanie off of his head, relieved that he only has morphine on him now and that he’ll leave the hospital soon, and gripped it tightly. “…no, I’m staying until she’s awake!”

Akihiko sighed as he almost wanted to slap his best friend in the face. “Shinji, if you were here, would Fuuka do this? No—she’d probably be out there fighting. Now,” he turned to crouch down to his height, “Minako might actually do this, but she knows she is waiting for you. She hates to see you filled with anguish.”

She does? I thought she… is she even with Aki? Then again, she wouldn’t tell anyone but Aki her feelings.

“…tch.” He lowered his eyes towards Fuuka again—her teal hair slightly messy, as if she was tossing and turning in her sleep. “…!” Shinjiro felt his heart beating fast, his lungs taking away his breath. Mitsuru’s eyes grew in worry as Akihiko knew what this was—he saw it all too well in the past.

“Where is your—” Akihiko began to ask as Shinjiro gripped Akihiko’s arm and shook his head. “But—!”

“Give me…Yamagishi’s hand…!” He cried out, feeling the despair of Castor wrangling him in to reality. “T-trust me!” Akihiko nodded as their hands made contact as Mitsuru and Akihiko observed what was happening.

His mind travelled back to the first time it happened within the Dark Hour. The big open meadow with flowers around them, it made his eyes grew that Fuuka wasn’t there in front of him. But, he could smell the lavender that was on Fuuka’s hair, and the chocolate aroma of the eclairs again. Lucia reached out, mentally and in Shinjiro’s mind, to Castor, pulling the creature into her warm arms. Fuuka’s heart monitor went off—escalating pass a pulse of 100 and her heart rate in the 140s as Shinjiro shook his head. “D-don't…do anything…”

The seniors looked at each other, the alarms going off loudly and annoying—Mitsuru was about to yell at Shinjiro, but then it was over in the blink of an eye. Shinjiro squeezed her hand tightly as his breathing went back to normal—Fuuka’s own heart rate and pulse back to regular ranges. Subconsciously, her thumb brushed across his own hand, making Shinjiro jump slightly.

**_Senpai…you should fight for me. Please._ **

His eyes grew—he turned to Mitsuru and Akihiko, their eyes as wide as his was. “I am…surprised. Did Yamagishi tell you about this?”

Shinjiro shook his head. “We found out about a month ago—something about her Persona…keeps my Persona relaxed when it’s riled up. I…Hell, I can’t explain it either.” He murmured as he turned his eyes back to Fuuka—her voice seemingly gone, leaving him feel a bit lonely.

“…Shinji.” Akihiko softly uttered. He was taken aback. “…is that why you don’t want to leave her side?” He asked slowly. Shinjiro nodded.

“If this will get me off my damn suppressants, then why not?” He seemed to have some hope in his voice. “Besides,” he wanted to add more, but nothing seemed to came to his mind but one thing, “…I feel her calling out to me.”

“…could be that she is communicating with her Persona.” Mitsuru suggested. Shinjiro didn’t move an inch—he was focused on Fuuka. Mitsuru looked at her watch on her hand and turned back to her allies. “Listen. I don’t have time—my father wants an update on Yamagishi in the next hour. I…” She almost didn’t want to break his heart.

Mitsuru realized that Shinjiro had fallen for her, so hard that if she never woke, he would be a mess and irreconcilable. “…did not know you and Yamagishi were close. But, stay as long as you feel the need to. Akihiko,” she turned towards him and nodded, “stay if you must, but I’ll arrange for a group meeting in a few days. We need to talk about what to do about Tartarus and the shadows.”

Akihiko nodded slowly, stating to Shinjiro that he’ll be back-his stomach was roaring loudly as he quickly made his exit, along with Mitsuru. For the first time this week, Shinjiro was finally alone with Fuuka. He rubbed her hand with his thumb. “Come on, Fuuka. Say something more, please.” He whispered softly. Mitsuru was standing outside of the doorway, not fully leaving just yet. She wondered what in the world could calm Shinjiro’s Persona so easily, without negative effects. It made her curious and she looked inside the room as she could see Shinjiro’s heart ache.

_If she doesn’t wake up, what will he do then?_ Mitsuru pondered in her mind. _She is our only navigator–and I cannot force my Persona to navigate again. It’ll be harder on me–_ She stopped as she watched Shinjiro stand up, but then he sat back down, laying his head on Fuuka’s bed once more.

**_Mitsuru-senpai…_ **

She jolted from her spot, wondering who was calling out to her suddenly.

**_Do not worry. I’ll be sure to lend my help anyway possible._ **

_Yamagishi…!_

Now she knew Shinjiro wasn’t crazy–Fuuka could do more than she ever thought she could. It made her wish she asked more about Fuuka and her Persona when she was alive and awake.

**_I’ll get Shinjiro back to you-just give me a few more days. …I promise._ **

_If you say so._

Mitsuru walked away, her arms crossed, as she felt a smile appear on her face. For now, she would have to keep this to herself. She wouldn’t let her father know about the power that Fuuka holds deep within her soul, within her heart. “If you say so, Yamagishi.” She whispered outloud, as she walked outside. A warm breeze passed through her hair as she felt a bit more confident about Fuuka getting better and the promise she intended to keep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so dedicated on how to actually frame Fuuka's SL with Shinjiro and Minako's SL with Shinjiro, too. I have a full notebook page on Sept. and Oct. and circled what dates Minako has her social link because you only get ten days with him, and Fuuka gets 10 days, and some of those days interact with one another because they do stuff together-it's a hot mess, but it's an organized mess. I am working on trying to write these down correctly and almost as accurately as possible.
> 
> Anyway, I hoped you all enjoyed this-it was a bit of a dozy, and I thought about how this chapter would end several times. Hopefully it was done well.


	4. Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for not having this out sooner. I have had a busy month with giving work my two weeks notice and just had to help my mom out with her mental health issues, on top of mine. I had it done for a couple weeks, but just couldn't get the energy to get back on the laptop and post it. And for that, I apologize. And hopefully the wait wasn't too bad--I still need to get more chapters done and it doesn't help I keep dreaming the end part so much.
> 
> And, I tried so hard to not make Junpei sound like an ass--I failed horribly and I am sorry--but I still love him! I'll make him redeemable... ...maybe. ...or not.
> 
> Also, thank you all for the kudos and hits. <3 It really makes my day when I see all of you liking this--it makes my heart flutter with happiness and excitement! :D

_Chapter 04 -- Jealousy_

**_S_ e _ptember 6th_ **

Fuuka was a bit surprised to see Shinjiro having a magazine over his face—did he fall asleep? She ever really had time to question if Shinjiro was always tired, or just never seemed to sleep. "We should we quiet. I wouldn't want to wake up Shinjiro-senpai." Fuuka pointed to Shinjiro as she turned to Aigis and Koromaru. Koromaru let out a bark of confirmation, but Aigis began to decipher his bark.

"Koromaru says that he isn't asleep." Aigis slowly said, Koromaru barking to confirm what he said, as Shinjiro felt his body tense up in shock. " 'He just recently put the magazine on his face' is what Koromaru says."

Fuuka turned her head over and tilted her head. "Huh. That's the magazine used to guide people with the family cooking show… I didn't know the new issue was out." Fuuka mentioned as she began to think to herself.

_Does senpai…like cooking shows?_

Fuuka felt her cheeks heat up as Aigis asked how did she know about the magazine. "Oh, I recently got into learning how to cook." Koromaru knew that Shinjiro was lying—which wasn't odd, but interesting as Fuuka felt he had nothing to hide, right? Koromaru kept barking at Shinjiro as the girls headed up towards the stairs, leaving both Koromaru and Shinjiro in the lobby.

"Dammit. I forgot she understood dog talk." He uttered as he pulled the magazine off, once the coast was clear, and saw that Koromaru was whining. Shinjiro sighed and pet his head softly. "Don't worry about it—I'll make something next time, Koro-chan." He grinned as he placed the magazine on the table and turned the TV back on, this time a bit quieter.

Fuuka was on the second floor, relieved that Aigis was itching to get back to her room as she could hear Shinjiro talking to Koromaru. She wanted to ask, but knew that if she bothered him, she might feel a bit bad—it was nice to keep stuff you like to yourself. Fuuka began to pace back and forth, her mind conflicted.

_It would be great to have someone like senpai to teach me how to cook—then again, I might need Minako-chan's help. She seems to get him to easily talk to. Then again—_

Fuuka didn't realize that there was a piece of carpet coming off from the stairs from constant use. Her tights were getting caught on the nail—she stopped and focused her attention on trying to not rip her favorite pair.

"Oh, no… I better tell Mitsuru-senpai about this—" Fuuka crouched as she knew this was going to be a hazard—and it would happen to her now, as she was conflicted. Shinjiro started coming up the stairs, Koromaru coming upstairs right behind him, but then went back down as soon as the door downstairs opened up.

Shinjiro could see that Fuuka was struggling with a nail—of course, he didn't realize why she was crouching. He was just about to ask as Fuuka pulled a bit harder than normal, feeling her clothing being removed from the nail...and felt her body shifting towards the stairs—her breath was catching in her throat as she was too scared to let out a scream or cry.

Fuuka closed her eyes as Shinjiro shifted his body quickly up the stairs and caught Fuuka a few steps away from the second floor. He let out a grunt—not realizing how light she was, but realizing how much someone so light gave him a bit of pain. Fuuka opened her eyes slowly, one by one, as she could see Shinjiro looking down at her.

"…you okay?" He asked softly as she nodded slowly. Fuuka felt her cheeks heating up—maybe this was way too convenient for him to be here at the exact moment. "Did you hurt your foot or something?"

Fuuka blinked and looked down at her tights and sighed softly. "…I might need to buy a new pair. There is a nail hanging off—it needs to b-be fixed." She whispered as she pointed to the nail coming out of the board. "C-could you fix it?"

Shinjiro noticed Fuuka was a bit warm—the cheeks being red was a clear sign. "If you're okay, then yeah, I can do it." He let her down carefully, his sternum aching—he didn't want to tell her that at all. "I'll see if there's a toolbox or something here. Go on, I'll take care of it." He looked at Fuuka, noticing she seemed a bit concerned.

"Well, okay. …I, er…thank you, Shinjiro-senpai—f-for the rescue, that is." Fuuka felt flustered as she played with the ends of her skirt. She watched Shinjiro walking down the stairs as she quickly made her way up the stairs and straight into her room. She locked the door and put her hand to her chest—yes, her heart was beating quickly, but not because she just ran up the stairs like a crazed maniac.

Fuuka carefully walked to her bed and reached for her phone. She knew that if she wanted an unbiased opinion that she should go to the one person who wasn't in SEES or dealing with SEES at all.

**_Natsuki._ **

"Natsuki-chan…do you have a few minutes?" Fuuka called Natsuki, knowing that texting might be slow between the two of them. Natsuki seemed to be awfully busy in the afternoons, leading into the early evenings.

**"Yeah, of course!"** Natsuki moved herself to the stoop from her family home and sat down, wondering what could be on Fuuka's mind. **"So, what's up?"**

Fuuka played with her skirt as she could hear banging down below on the stairs—perhaps Shinjiro was fixing the stairs? "I, er, got a question about… …boys." She slowly said as Natsuki felt like this might be a breeze! Natsuki urged Fuuka on, not realizing this might be a big mistake.

"Oh, well…okay. I think, think is a big word here, that I like this guy, but I think the universe is trying to get us together, and I think I am losing my mind." She slowly explained, wondering if she did sound a bit crazy. "Am I crazy?"

Natsuki began to hear the sign of slight panic in Fuuka's voice. _Man, she is **kinda** losing it. _Natsuki thought before asking her a question.

**"Fuuka, let me ask you this: is the feeling mutual?"**

Fuuka put her elbows on her knees and sighed heavily. "I don't think so. He's…so mysterious—he doesn't speak much—"

**"Wait. I thought we were talking about… oh, what's his name...?"**

Fuuka shook her head, even though Natsuki couldn't see it through her phone. "We aren't talking about… _Junpei_ this time." Natsuki blinked a few times, showing some confusion on her face.

**"But, you have always talked about him like he was good or something. What happened?"** And before Fuuka could say anything, Natsuki snapped her finger. **"He fell for someone else, huh?"**

Fuuka sighed heavily. "Was it that obvious? I waited too long."

**"Fuuka, dear, he was impatient."** She had to tread carefully with Fuuka. Natsuki might not know the SEES members that well, but had to make sure to speak from an unbiased mindset. She felt hurt for Fuuka—she was truly surprised that she wasn't speaking on happier terms to her. **"Now, if he did fall for some other girl, oh well. I am sure you will someone to replace that pain."**

"Annnnd that is what leads me to calling out you out of the blue." Fuuka mentioned as she felt her cheeks heating up. She was trying to figure out the right way to say, to ask, about Shinjiro. "So, ummm… …how do you know if someone likes you or maybe… okay, let me try to explain what's happened so far."

**"Fuuka…? Is there another guy—Now if he breaks your heart—!"**

"I-I think it's just the cosmos aligning us up or something else. It's not going to happen, I know. But let me explain:" Fuuka got up from her bed and began to pace. "So, this guy, whenever I wanted to do stuff with Junpei, per se, he would tell me to stop chasing him. That it isn't worth it. Like, that ramen lunch thing you gave me? That was something I knew he would like—but he gave it to Minako-chan instead!"

**"Well alright. He is already sounding like shit now, Fuuka. You should have lead with that!"**

She nodded slowly. "Yes, well when that happened, this other guy stated that Junpei wouldn't know what hit him unless it actually did—"

**"Ahhh this guy is smart. He already knows Junpei is scum."**

"I am not trying to bad mouth him, Natsuki! But," she stopped in her spot and closed her eyes, "the next time I tried to at least go out with him, he was already out and had plans."

Natsuki sighed. **"That's the universal sign of I got plans with the guys or I am going to see a girl. And I think it's seeing a girl."**

"Which led to me actually seeing the girl just today. She's from a bad group of people, but she doesn't seem inherently evil. Just that some people accepted her and welcomed her before anyone else could." Fuuka explained as she opened her eyes and slid down to her table where her laptop sat. Fuuka played with her computer mouse's wheel and sighed heavily. "He is head over heels for her."

Natsuki listened—she didn't know Strega either, but knew about the bad people in the alleyway. She didn't tell Fuuka this as it could make her worry even more over her. And Natsuki couldn't risk her doing that for her.

**"And did you tell this other guy?"**

"I think he knew from the beginning and didn't want to tell me. I…I don't know. But," Fuuka sat up straighter and put her hand flat on the table, "there was this time, that we were making desserts, just a couple days ago… and when our hands just brushed by each other…" Fuuka wasn't sure how else to explain it—Natsuki might just freak out about Lucia doing her thing with Castor.Or just the idea of Personas might freak her out.

**"…did something happen? Like sparks? Or maybe it was like…shit what is it called? …like electricity went through you both and left you speechless?"**

"You took the words out of my mouth—it was odd. I never felt something like that before. But, the moment it happened, I just… we split and didn't talk about it. Haven't talked about it." Fuuka moved her fingers onto her skirt, playing with the hem and drawing different shapes onto the skirt. "Does that mean something? Oh—and there was a loose nail on the stairs at the dorm and I almost fell down the stairs as my tights got stuck in it—and this sounds silly, but he was there to catch me." She let out a small giggle, knowing it sounded ridiculous.

**"Huh. That sounds like something out of a romantic novel."** Natsuki mentioned as Fuuka agreed. **"Now, are you feeling something for him? I mean, you both cooked something, he gave you advice, AND you both felt something when just your hands were brushing each other? That isn't just something. It sounds like fate, Fuuka."**

Fuuka shook her head vehemently. "It can't be. I mean, he's a silent guy who looks like he can beat up someone just looking at him in the wrong way—"

**"Fuuka! You into bad guys!?"** Natsuki gasped as Fuuka felt herself gasping for words. **"Well well well—it makes sense now!"**

"Excuse me, but it **does not**!"

Natsuki let out a heartfelt laugh, one she hasn't done in such a while. **"Fuuka, it is fine! But you know what they say about the quiet ones—You know the people I did hang out with. So, now I want to know his name!"**

Fuuka shook her head. If I tell her, she might even know! Nope! Can't let anyone else know!

"I will tell you once we actually get into a friendship, even if we ever get to a relationship." Fuuka held up her pinkie finger, even though Natsuki couldn't see it. "I promise."

**"Just acquaintances!? Oh, Fuuka, you are killing me! Fine, fine. But,"** Natsuki started to stand as she let out a soft sigh, **"if you don't tell me by the end of this month, I will find out."**

Fuuka frowned, albeit pouting, as she wondered if she could even get Shinjiro's affection to friendship within a month. _Can I even do that?_

She sat on the idea for a few seconds—I mean, not like people would make fun of her even more than before. So why not?

"Deal."

* * *

_October 12th_

It took her a moment to catch her breath, and for what Mitsuru said to her to actually settle in. Natsuki was a bit dumbfounded, but her face showed a hint of terror. Her eyes followed around the room—the monitors on Fuuka, which had been reduced from five to four, Mitsuru and Akihiko nearby whereas Shinjiro was asleep on the pullout couch nearby, and Minato with his arms crossed and sitting in a chair across from Natsuki.

"It's been a week." Natsuki began to say, after a long silence, and looked up at Mitsuru and Akihiko. "Why hasn't anyone done a damn thing!? How come the one who sh-shot Fuuka is still running around!?" She cried out as her eyes, beginning to fill with tears again, closed tightly.

"Moriyama-san," Mitsuru began to speak, but lost her thoughts as she saw Minato standing up and taking over for her.

"…listen, we feel the same anguish and pain you do. Trust me." He slowly stated as Natsuki reached for Fuuka's hand and caressed it tenderly. "This man who hurt her—he is dangerous. And we have to formulate a plan. If we charge in head first, we could get hurt, too." He sat next to her, his body on Fuuka's soft bed, and nodded slowly. "She saved Shinjiro-san…and we will avenge her by making sure we go in with our thoughts collected."

Natsuki wiped a stray tear and nodded. She knew that if he could injure two people without anyone finding Takaya, then of course she couldn't ask for anything else. "Fuuka's alive. That's all I could ever ask for." She whispered softly as her head lowered. Her eyes turned towards Mitsuru again. "But, i-if she doesn't wake up, will she be behind a term?"

Mitsuru blinked—she almost forgot that the a new term will begin, and then reality came back and whooshed her away from the past again. "She might. But, we will play it by ear. Our main concern is her and…" She turned her head towards Shinjiro, lightly snoring and somewhat at peace. "…school for Yamagishi will be placed on the back burner. She's smart—she will catch up."

"I…can I come back in a week? I have family issues and…I want to see her, again." Natsuki sighed softly after she whispered the last few words. Mitsuru nodded.

"I do not see why not. Anyway, I need to update my father about Yamagishi's progress. If you need anything—"

Akihiko interrupted her by putting his hand on her shoulder. "We will call you. We got it." Mitsuru nodded, excusing herself as she left the room. Akihiko turned towards Shinjiro and then turned back towards the group of people around Fuuka.

"Maybe I should go. Oh, by the way," Akihiko mentioned as he pointed behind him, "Shinji will be able to leave tomorrow. If you don't mind, Minato, help me get him back to the dorm. He's going to probably put up a fight since…" Akihiko looked down at Fuuka and his shoulder sank inward. "…she won't be there. If he needs anything, at least try to compromise with him if I'm not there."

Minato nodded as Akihiko stood erect and walked outside and shutting the door quietly. After the coast was clear, Natsuki looked back at Shinjiro herself. His hair was a bit in disarray, his beanie off to the side, and his boots untied by his feet. She turned towards Minato as she had to confirm something.

"Can I ask you something?" Natsuki stated as Minato simple nodded. "Well, I don't know how much you know, but…Fuuka told me a month ago she had a thing for this guy. And she couldn't specify who it was. …" Natsuki bit her lip before continuing on. "…was he the guy she was mentioning? B-because she did have a thing for Junpei, but apparently he started to fall for someone and she never really tells me much—"

Minato smiled softly and held a finger up. "Yes and yes. Junpei fell for…someone like Fuuka." He couldn't dive into the details with their Personas being somewhat similar. "But, why he didn't go for Fuuka is beyond my comprehension—I would happily go for her myself, to be honest. She's sweet, loyal, and a little hard on herself, but she means the best." Minato explained as he moved a piece of her hair out of her face. "But, Minako, figured something was up once she hung out with Shinjiro. He would be more soften, less aggressive and less stoic, and for a couple weeks, we couldn't figure it out. Then, we connected the pieces together once the typhoon hit.

"To be honest, only a few of us know—Yukari, Junpei, Ken, and Aigis have no clue on what's going on between them. But I am sure they will connect the dots quickly. And besides," he sat back down and looked at Natsuki, "I think you helped her quell her fears into talking to someone like him."

Natsuki felt her cheeks heat up at the compliment. "I just told her to not take any shit from anyone. She always seemed to take my word to heart, be it bad or good." She smiled as she stood up, and let go of a heavy breath she was holding in. "Do you think it would last?"

"Those two?" Minato asked, with Natsuki nodding in confirmation, as he closed his eyes and thought for a moment. "You know, if Fuuka can tame Shinjiro's anger and frustration, who knows what else she could do? I think it's possible, no matter who you are with, so long as they both love each other." He opened his eyes and stared at Shinjiro. "I don't even think they have said those words to each other yet. But, he hasn't left her side if only to use the bathroom, get checked out from the doctors, and to sleep in his bed—only that led to him sleeping near her. So," he turned back to Natsuki with a small smile on his lips, "if that isn't love, then I don't know what it is then."

Natsuki put her hand to her chest and smiled. "Good. Because I… I am doubtful that Fuuka will hear, but I have to leave later this month. My mom got a better job and my family can live and breathe better in our new place. I haven't told Fuuka yet. And I feel awful. So, that's why I wanted to ask. I feel at peace but…I still will come whenever I can." Natsuki moves towards the door and stopped as he put her hand on the handle. "Will she wake soon?" She asked softly.

Minato got up and walked over towards her, not showing any true emotions as he wasn't so sure himself. "I want her to. She was the icing on the cake—she was the best thing in our group. I am hoping she wakes soon." He mentioned softly. That was enough for Natsuki to nod and leave slowly, her pace slow as she moved to the exit of the hospital.

Minato sunk his shoulders in as he sat next to Fuuka. It was finally a bit more quiet than he bargained for. But, he could almost feel at peace—everyone was busy and had plans, but still wishing that Yukari would come, as well as Ken. Minato knew he couldn't rush them—especially Ken. He feels still at fault. He sighed heavily as he leaned back in his chair and saw Shinjiro turning in his sleep.

_I'm a bit surprised he slept through all of our conversations. Has he been a heavy sleeper?_ Minato thought wordlessly as he turned towards Fuuka and felt his eyes soften at her. _I wish I noticed your pain sooner; then perhaps we could've been together. And you wouldn't have…_

He shook his head. If she didn't get hurt, then Shinjiro would've been dead, possibly. And he couldn't wish that on anyone, an ally especially. Minato felt a bit jealous, but sorrow overwhelmed him at the moment. But, he was happy and would be happy for anyone in his close group of friends. Especially with Fuuka.

Slowly, he moved his hand towards her—suddenly, he felt anxious. As if Shinjiro would know and give him an evil glare, maybe yell at him. It was menacing but he had to try it at least. He heard last month, while not trying to snoop through the fourth floor command room, that Fuuka talked to Mitsuru about her powers and how the moment she touched Shinjiro, something happened.

Would he get the same thing?

He placed his hand gently on top of hers, and frowned. Nothing. Nothing at all. He wondered if it was a compatibility thing. He was about to take his hand away as Fuuka gripped it tightly and then released, all happening in a blink of an eye. Minato's eyes grew as he felt his heart skip a beat and then ache all over again. His eyes shot towards Shinjiro and knowing what he had to do, he carefully tip-toed and rubbed Shinjiro's shoulders. A grunt and a turn towards Minato's small smile on his lips made Shinjiro sit up abruptly.

"Hey—thought you should know that Fuuka squeezed my hand. It was quick, but I think she wanted yours."

_...instead of mine..._

Minato stated as he watched Shinjiro slowly stand, regaining his composure, and grabbed the nearest chair and pulled it up to her bed. Minato looked over at him, hoping that perhaps Fuuka was just wanting Shinjiro—for once, he hoped he was wrong. He watched them while he was at the exit, waiting, and waiting for Fuuka's hand to squeeze his.

What seemed like an eternity, she grasped his hand tightly, for a few more seconds longer than she did with Minato's hand, and then it went limp again. Shinjiro's gasp was what made Minato leave the room quickly and quietly. He couldn't handle how she chose him, but he had to man up and get over it. Being there for her, as a friend, an ally, someone he admired was what would make her get better quickly. Minato leaned his back against the wall, his head joining suit, as he felt frustrated. He wondered if maybe going to Tartarus tomorrow would help get his frustrations out. Maybe…maybe it might help him in the end.


	5. All Around Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooo boy. Sorry for not uploading this sooner. I resigned from my job, went on vacation, and have been dealing with some downer days. The other chapters will be uploaded hopefully more sooner rather than later.
> 
> Also, I seriously am trying to not make Junpei an ass or anything-it just happens? I really do love the poor sap. This is also a bit longer than the others, but I'm trying to tone down the length to be honest! XD

** Chapter 5: All Around Me **

_ September 8th _

Fuuka could sense the tension in the hospital room—with Chidori not even trying to talk or say anything to move things along, she was wondering who would snap first. Mitsuru had her arms crossed, gazing at Chidori while she's drawing, and Akihiko was just standing, trying to read Mitsuru's body language. And Fuuka was just sitting in a chair, trying to focus, trying to see if she could understand Chidori's powers.

"Yamagishi, could you sense anything?" Mitsuru asked, turning her head to the teal-headed girl as she shook her head. More silence filled the air. It was just only a few days ago that Chidori was caught, thanks to Junpei—albeit unknowingly. "By you refusing to speak, you are only hurting yourself."

Mitsuru moved towards Akihiko and sighed heavily. "We are not keeping you here because we want to, or hate you. It's to avoid unnecessary confrontation."

The door opened up as Junpei came walking in, moving towards Fuuka first. "H-how is she doing?" He asked slowly—Fuuka's eyes moved up towards him as Akihiko put his arms down to his sides.

"What's the obsession, Junpei?" Akihiko asked before Fuuka could say anything, wondering why someone would be interesting in a member like Strega.

Junpei ignored Akihiko and turned towards Mitsuru. "Did she say anything?" Mitsuru shook her head as Fuuka observed Junpei feeling a bit defeated. "I see. Can I try talking to her?"

Mitsuru turned her body towards him, her arms still crossed with a frown on her lips. "Iori, you seem to be getting your emotions involved, which isn't wise." She explained. "Is everything alright, though?"

Junpei's head lowered as he kicked the ground weakly with his foot. "Well, no. I mean, I know she attacked me and all…" He looked up at Chidori again. "But, I can't stop thinking about her."

Fuuka thought she was hit by a mach truck—for once, she **wished** Shinjiro was wrong. Oh, it ached her heart so much—this, this girl was the one who had Junpei's heart before she could even try. Fuuka bit her lip, her hand going to her chest and gripped her shirt. She turned up towards him, releasing her shirt, as she looked at him with honest, sad eyes. "…Junpei-kun…" She whispered as she saw him taking off his hat and bowing towards Mitsuru—quickly, but conveying the message he wanted.

She coughed, to gain Junpei's attention, and got up from her seat. "Take my seat—give it a shot." She stated as Junpei nodded and they traded spots. Fuuka watched Junpei doing most of the talking—Fuuka stared a bit angrily at Chidori, with all the evil malice she felt (which wasn't a lot—this is Fuuka we are talking about) as she suddenly put down her sketchbook. Fuuka removed all evil malice from her face as she turned to Junpei and sighed.

"It doesn't matter."

Fuuka gasped, her heart pained even more, as she and the others looked at one another. "S-she spoke…!"

"No one can understand me, or my drawings." She uttered softly, staring at the wall, as if she was trying to see what was beyond it. She lowered her head as Fuuka watched Junpei jump up, as if he saw a bug or something, and called out to Chidori.

"Chidori!"

There was blood dripping from her wrist—Fuuka covered her mouth as Akihiko turned to look around and saw the pot of sunflowers next to her. Akihiko gritted his teeth, looking for the newest weapon she made. "Tch. Not again!"

"H-hey! Why are you bleeding?" Junpei called out as Fuuka ached at his pain—someone he cared for was in pain and she couldn't do anything to help, neither could he though.

Akihiko pulled out a small razor blade from underneath the flowerpot and frowned. He turned towards Junpei and the others, holding the evidence he found. "She does this to herself. I swore I got rid of all the sharp objects."

Junpei seemed to be startled by this turn of events. "Apparently," Mitsuru spoke as she moved closer to the bed, "we cannot even leave her by herself for even a moment. But, fortunately, she is able to heal up at an astounding rate." She explained as Junpei felt Chidori's hand leave his own.

"Let go of me!" Chidori cried out as she kept her hand down at the side, blood still seeping out little by little.

"Wait. So at the station—!" Junpei connected the lines together from one of the previous engagements and tilted his head. "—you did this to yourself?"

Chidori's head turn from Junpei simply confirmed it. "I never asked for your help." She spat with anger. "You were the one who misunderstood."

"Well, I want you to stop it!" Junpei stated, lower his head and eyes away from Chidori. "You can't be doing that. I-…it isn't right. I won't let you."

Chidori turned her head back towards Junpei and before she could say anything, Mitsuru stepped forward and turned towards Junpei and Fuuka. "You both should go. The doctor will be here soon."

Fuuka began walking towards the door, nodding, as she saw Junpei still standing by Chidori. "Let's go, Junpei-kun." Fuuka stated softly as Junpei followed behind, but stopped to look at Chidori one more time, and then walked out while Fuuka turned on her heel and followed behind him, to make sure he wouldn't come back. Fuuka closed the door and made sure Junpei was okay before they continued their separate paths.

But, she wasn't so sure on how to…talk to someone like Junpei—he changed for the good, but now that Chidori was in the picture, she was stumped on how to break the ice with him.

"Junpei-kun." Fuuka called out to him as she stopped in front of him, a small smile on her lips. "…I know this is probably a bad time—"

"You think?" He sharply said as Fuuka's smile disappeared quickly. "I mean, I got someone who hurts herself, and she won't talk to anyone but me!" He began to rant to her as she held her arm, gripping it tightly. "A-and whatever this could be, Fuuka, it is a bad time."

"I-I…I just…"

Junpei turned his ear towards her, knowing he didn't mean what he was saying—he was just angry and frustrated, and Fuuka was the only one there to take the fall. "Yes? What?"

Fuuka stared at Junpei, her heart aching so badly as she realized Shinjiro was absolutely right. _He…was right_. She shook her head, unable to respond, as a tear escaped her eye—Fuuka quickly lowered her head as Junpei saw the tear. Now, he wanted to kick himself in the ass so hard. He rubbed the back of his head, not realizing how stressed out he had become. "F-fuuka..."

She pushed passed him, going to the other side of the hospital to leave, knowing that if she were to walk with him home, this was going to be painful for her to bear. "…j-just, go away." Fuuka could sense, and hear, Junpei following her. "Y-you don't want me to help you—" She felt herself getting heated up, too.

_ If he can, why can't I? _

"I-I never knew this…I-I never knew Ch-chidori was who you were with—someone who…" Fuuka turned a corner, Junpei still calling out to her and trying to reason with her. "…we are th-the same, right? The same powers and what not... Then why won't you—" Fuuka stopped herself from saying the rest of her sentence. Fuuka turned to see Junpei, a bit out of breath, as she felt her lip trembling in fear and sadness—fear because she was now FINALLY confronting Junpei, but sadness because he would never love her.

"…Fuuka?" He noticed she stopped as she covered her lips, stifling back a sob she suddenly felt come out of her. "…" For once, Junpei was speechless. He didn't know what to say, what to do, hell he already fucked this up, so what more could he do?

"You know…" He moved towards her as he felt himself hesitating. "…Minako told me about the ramen bowl thing," Fuuka kept her head down, knowing if she looked at him, she might just let the waterworks flow. "A-and I was a dumbass—didn't realize you wanted to go out, with **me**. I-I just thought you were too cute and too smart for someone like me." He explained slowly, moving closer to Fuuka little by little, without her unaware of his motions.

"…and Minako whacked me on the head for it, after she found out from Shinjiro-san. And then, like a few days ago?, you wanted to find me and talk to me—Akihiko-san told me you were looking for me. And, well, didn't know until yesterday. All this time you were trying to talk to me, to hang out with me…" He put his hand on top of the wall above her head and looked down at her. Fuuka sniffed softly as she felt her tears ready to fall at a moment's notice. Junpei got a good look at her, in her weekend outfit with the cute little yellow cardigan, and her face—her face was a pure mess, just as much of a mess that Junpei's mind was in.

"…I fucked up, okay? A-and I know I can't make it up, not now, not for a while." He admitted slowly, not knowing how long Chidori would be in the hospital and if she'll ever leave, that is. "A-and…dammit I'm not good with this."

Fuuka noticed how close they were—it made her cheeks heat up as she was unaware of what to say to this—she just let him say what he wanted, to make him feel better. She could smell the slight aroma of a ramen bowl he had before coming over here to see Chidori.

That was how close they were.

"Listen, maybe…we could do something together? I don't know—Yukari said we were Capricorns or something like that? So, uhh…" Junpei sighed heavily. "…maybe we could celebrate our birthdays together? At least, let me pay you back for the ramen bowl you would've had with me."

Fuuka sniffed her nose, she felt like her whole face was covered in tears and snot—not a pleasant sight of Fuuka currently. Junpei, thankful, pulled out his handkerchief, and handed it to her. "Take this at least." He almost said Chidori wouldn't want it, but knew this wasn't about her—okay, it was, but he wanted to focus on Fuuka at least. "A-and give it back when you can. No rush." Fuuka took the handkerchief, wiping some tears from her face, as she looked up at Junpei.

Their eyes connected—oh, THIS was a horrible idea. She couldn't do this now, but…

Junpei noticed her cheeks were slightly red, and puffy, from all the crying, he assumed, as he reached down to cup her cheek and began to wipe some of her tears. "I hate to see a girl crying, especially you."

_ No no. I can't do this. H-he has Chidori-! I-I do not need to fall for his…gestures…! I wouldn't want to be that girl. _

She felt her breath hitch up in her throat as she heard someone coughing from nearby—she blinked her eyes as she saw Shinjiro looking at them, with a somewhat disappointed look on his face.

_ Oh great. What else could go wrong? _

Fuuka thought to herself as Shinjiro digested the scene a little bit—a crying Fuuka, Junpei's hand above her head and his other hand upon her cheek—he knew he didn't like this one bit. "Iori—what are you doing there with Yamagishi?"

Junpei felt his blood turn cold as he didn't even try to move from his position, though he probably should've once Shinjiro moved towards them. "I-I was just trying to comfort Fuuka—sh-she looked pretty sad—"

Shinjiro glared at Junpei, which made him jump a little and moved away from Fuuka. Shinjiro took a good look at Fuuka—relieved that she wasn't hurt, physically, but emotionally perhaps. "Is that true?"

Fuuka looked at Junpei, for a brief moment, as she could see fear in his eyes. "…I-I was upset, yes. …h-he gave me his handkerchief—" she lifted it up, to prove her first point, "—a-and, I said the wrong thing t-to him. I… …I was in the wrong." She lowered her head, not wanting to see Shinjiro or Junpei's eyes.

Junpei's eyes grew. He wasn't expecting Fuuka to take the fall for what he said to her—now, he felt even worst. Before Shinjiro could say anything, Junpei coughed and spoke up. "Senpai, sh-she's lying. I…I got mad at her, over Chidori. I didn't meant what I said," He turned to Fuuka, his eyes filled with some sorrow, "and I apologize for everything—with the plans she made with me and I ignored—just," he bowed towards Shinjiro and stood erect quickly, "don't get mad at her."

Shinjiro raised an eyebrow—he wondered if he was probably dreaming this shit up right now. He turned towards Fuuka, she nodded to confirm, and he let out a sigh. "Good. Because you probably deserved it." Shinjiro spatted out at Junpei as he reached for Fuuka's hand and held it. "Now, you stay here until I leave. I'm taking Yamagishi with me—and," he held up a finger, "don't follow us."

Junpei nodded swiftly, knowing not to cross someone like Shinjiro. Fuuka felt herself being pulled away quickly, her eyes turning towards Junpei as he removed his hat, turning his back towards them as Fuuka was ushered down a hallway and into a spare room. She could see Shinjiro turning around and closing the door and looking at her once again. Her heart pounded in her chest as she couldn't find the words to say anything.

"Don't fall for him." Shinjiro stated, having to repeat what he said earlier in the month, as she blinked at him, pulling up chairs for them both to sit down on. "For fuck's sake Fuuka, he **lied** to me **in front** of you!" He didn't want to raise his voice—he could already see Fuuka ready to cry again. Shinjiro took a deep breath, listening to what Minako told him about his anger, and sighed heavily.

_ Minako did not train me on how to do this shit with girls. Dammit. _

Shinjiro thought silently as he brought his chair closer and looked at Fuuka. There was a bit of awkward silence—Fuuka didn't even know how to defuse the bomb ready to explode on them. "…I know." She whispered softly. "…I know and I still fall for it…" Fuuka covered her lips as she felt herself hyperventilating. Fuuka began to take deep breaths, trying to slow herself down, and felt a tear escaped her eye. "…I'm sorry."

Shinjiro was a bit speechless—he was all ready to apologize, but was thankful for Fuuka for speaking up first. "Don't be. Shit happens when people fall in love or something." He mentioned, but then his thoughts traveled to somewhere else. "…listen, this might sound crazy, maybe stupid, but, could we try…that stuff you did, with your Persona?"

Fuuka felt her tears drying up, surprised that they were actually bringing it up now, all of a sudden. "But…why? I thought…you were creeped out by it." She mentioned softly as she wiped the rest of her tears on the handkerchief and put it away in her pocket.

"Not really—just startled that someone with your power could…do something like that." He almost wanted to explain the whole situation with his pills. But, he pushed that aside. Unless Fuuka brought it up, then he might tell her—then again, not many people know, at least Strega for one. "Just want to see if it was true, if it was going to happen again."

She wondered, too, and wondered why it didn't happen just then when he grabbed her hand. She didn't understand it, but maybe they could try it again? "Well, let's make the room a bit dark—if it didn't work when it was bright out, then maybe that's a stipulation?" Fuuka mentioned, wondering if that was really the only reason why it would work.

Shinjiro moved from his seat and turned to all the blinds, closing them off until he got to the one by the door, locking the door so Fuuka wouldn't get disrupted, and closed the window's blinds on the door and carefully made his way towards Fuuka.

"Now, relax yourself, okay?" Fuuka wiped her stray tears away in the dark as she could hear Shinjiro shifting in his seat.

"How can someone relax Yamagishi? Iori was—"

Fuuka coughed. "L-let's not talk about him. This is about you."

_ And I. _

Fuuka didn't speak the last part, only thinking it, as she began to reach for his hands and held one of them in the palms of both of her own. Fuuka looked at Shinjiro, unsure if she was really looking at him. She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. "Now, take a deep breath with me—maybe we need to be on the—"

**_ She gasped as she felt herself being whisked away into the open meadow again. _ **

**_ Fuuka began to turn around as she saw Shinjiro nearby—what made her be so drawn to someone like him? Fuuka shook her head as she saw rain clouds coming in from a distance. Shinjiro turned towards her as she was being pulled into his arms. _ **

**_ "This is the calm before the storm." He whispered softly as she could sense him becoming more protective of her. She felt her heart pounding in her ears as she bit her lip and looked up at him. _ **

**_ "I am sure we can handle this—" Fuuka gasped as she felt the rain coming down in sheets, as if hail was coming down and beating them senseless. Fuuka wrapped her arms around Shinjiro as he opened up his peacoat and pulled her into it—he didn't care if he was hurt. _ **

**_ She felt protected—warm, even, but…Hold on. _ **

**_ Fuuka thought as she looked up at him and turned to see what he was looking at. A figure riding a horse, galloping towards them. It took her breath away as she saw Shinjiro froze up, paralyzed, as the figure grew closer. The figure made Fuuka gasp softly, not realizing it was Castor the man was riding, but the figure on the horse couldn't be distinguished. Fuuka began to try to push at Shinjiro, trying to push him to safety. _ **

**_ "S-shinjiro-senpai?" She called out to him as she could see him sweating up a storm. Fuuka turned to face the figure—but Fuuka was scared that she couldn't protect him, however it seemed that Shinjiro was trying to protect her out of this mess. Shinjiro had his arms around her and wouldn't let go. _ **

**_ The moment the rider came up to them, he pulled out a sword—Fuuka quickly held out her hand, screaming as she knocked Shinjiro out of his trance like state and saw Fuuka react and began to push the horse and rider away from the both as Fuuka felt herself ready to collapse from exhaustion. _ **

**_ Shinjiro watched Fuuka slip out of his arms as she closed her eyes, her heart pounding. _ **

Back in reality, Fuuka could feel her hands tightening around Shinjiro's own, Shinjiro moving closer to her, standing up and leaning over her.

**_ "…Fuuka-!" He called out to her as he looked up to see the rider and Castor disappearing as the clouds began to slowly dissipate. Shinjiro reached down to Fuuka, unsure of what to really say to her—what could you say to someone who saved your life. He pulled her back into a hug as she just wanted to sleep in his arms. _ **

**_ "…I…I am exhausted." She murmured into his chest as she just grabbed at his chest and felt herself sighing heavily. _ **

Fuuka opened her eyes as she could sense Shinjiro opened his eyes as well—the contact was severed, but she could still see Shinjiro in the darkness. Fuuka sniffed her nose slightly and smelt a small aroma of …a type of musk he must have been using recently. She didn't smell it on him last time. Now, she was sort of convinced that Minako was **really** trying to get them together. In some sort of strange way.

She could smell how close he was to her—it excited her, but it also scared her. Could he smell her, too? Shinjiro didn't mean to get so close to her—the vision brought him to reality quickly as he could smell her—freshly plucked lavender and a hint of a forest after a rainfall, especially of an oak tree. Shinjiro gulped as he could barely see in the darkness, but as he moved his hand towards Fuuka's face, as if it was instinct, he knew her cheek was mere inches away from his hand. He felt her cheeks heating up and that heat hit his palm dead center.

"…Fuuka…" He whispered softly, trying to get his mind back to reality. The silence hung around them as Fuuka's eyes began to slightly adjust to the darkness. She could see his figure, but nothing too defining. Fuuka could feel the tension, sexual maybe?, as she wanted to see what this… _kiss and tell thing_ Yukari mentions over in her novels were really like.

Even the way he said her voice made her heart skip a beat. "…Shinjiro…" She whispered as she could feel his hand hovering over her cheek. No one told her how to do this—luckily, Shinjiro was in the same boat as she was. The moment she said her name, he cupped her cheek. Being in the dark had its benefits—no one could see what you were emoting, and no one could see how many sweat bullets were pouring down your face. Shinjiro gulped as he knew he was taking this too far. He didn't even know if he loved her, so he couldn't continue on. If he did—

"Fuuka, I can't…" He whispered as he still kept his hand on her cheek. "…n-not now, that is." He could feel her head lowered, unsure of how bad or good that was. "This isn't the place. You know that."

Fuuka nodded as she put her hand on his own, removing it carefully as she smiled, though he couldn't see it. "…r-right, of course." Fuuka let out a small laugh, a weak one however, as she began to get up, and looking for the light switch. "I-I mean, a hospital? That's…that's silly!" She felt herself saying random stuff as she was frantically searching for the light. Her feet scuffling as Shinjiro moved straight towards the light switch, flickering it on the moment Fuuka's hand reached for it, grabbing Shinjiro's in the process.

Their hands were cupped in each other's as Fuuka finally got a good look at Shinjiro, and vice versa. Their eyes locked onto one another as their cheeks heated up to a darker shade of red. Whatever Shinjiro had in mind, to help Fuuka relax, and to bring her back to a better place mentally, worked. Fuuka removed her hand first, as she began to rub her arm, to shake off her nerves.

"I-I, er…" Speaking didn't help her situation either. "…thank you, a-again."

Shinjiro raised an eyebrow. "I think I am supposed to say that." He mentioned, his hands going straight to his peacoat pockets. He began to move out of her way as Fuuka didn't quite move just yet. "Listen:" He made sure he got Fuuka's attention before continuing onward, "what ever Lucia does actually helps Castor calm down. I have…" He gritted his teeth—should he even mention the pills now of all times? "…my Persona isn't like yours or anyone else's. It's, somewhat, berserk. And does this weekly, but now, it's a couple times a week."

Fuuka nodded slowly. She wondered if Shinjiro was being treated here—it is a Kirijo owned hospital. They would have to know more, right? Then the idea dawned on her—hacking into the system.

"Whatever she does, Fuuka, is helping me more than I could ever dream of." He put his hands on her shoulders, bringing her mind back to reality as she was already thinking of codes and what not to infiltrate the hospital's records. "…I know we don't normally talk much, a-and I understand if you think this is weird—"

Fuuka shook her head. "I-it isn't!"

"—but, in order for me to feel better," Shinjiro looked her dead in the eyes, "please, do not get hurt for my sake, okay?"

Fuuka nodded slowly. "…of course—I can get a lot of rest and—"

Shinjiro shook his head. "I don't mean like that, idiot." He knew that Strega was talking about Fuuka while in his presence, whenever he got his pills from them. He knew deep down that they wanted her dead to eliminate the possible chance of SEES actually saving the world. And he knew he had to jump on the idea of saving Fuuka without Fuuka realizing it—unless she already did. "Just…don't get yourself killed over me, or anyone in our group? Do you promise?"

Fuuka stared at him, surprised that he actually said something like that to her. It made her wonder if someone really was trying to hurt her or the group. She put her hand to her chest. "…Shinjiro…" Fuuka hesitated as she forgo the suffix. "…you have to make me promise something, too." Fuuka stated as she knew this could play the same way back to him. "Whatever you do, don't get yourself killed over me, too. …don't play the hero for us. Okay?"

Shinjiro nodded—he had to lie, of course! He didn't want anyone to touch their navigator, especially Strega—and he feared that if she got hurt, just because of him, he might not be able to handle it. As if it would be Miki dying all over again. "Fine. Now," He unlocked the door and turned towards the priestess, "you should go. I'll follow after you—and I'll make dinner tonight, so don't eat any sweets." Shinjiro mentioned as Fuuka walked out of the room, but turned to face him.

Fuuka opened her mouth, but then closed it again. But then, after collecting her thought, she spoke to him, "We should talk, again, senpai." She bowed to him and quickly left the hospital, her heart pounding in her ears again. Shinjiro closed the door to the room and locked it, removing his beanie and feeling at ease, but felt himself becoming worried over someone he barely knew, and yet was ready to give her the world and everything.

He hit the wall with the side of his fist and then laid his head on the wall, feeling frustrated over saving Fuuka and conflicted over telling her about Strega wanting her dead and his suppressant pills.

"…she's going to find out before I tell her. I just know it." He ran his hand through his hair and gritted his teeth in frustration. He let out a strong curse as he left the room, swinging the door close and made sure that Akihiko and Mitsuru didn't seem him like he was at this moment.

* * *

_ October 15th _

"For fucks sake—let me go Arisato!"

Shinjiro's voice echoed the hallway leading to the 2nd floor as Minako winced at how loud he was. Minato was doing his best at holding Shinjiro back. "Shinjiro-san—you have to stay here! You just got out of the hospital a few days ago!"

Shinjiro gritted his teeth as he saw Junpei at the stairs watching this all unfold. Junpei knew that Shinjiro's death glares were enough to scare him away, but stayed where he was—at least to help Minato out.

"So?!"

"Akihiko-senpai—"

"Oh, fuck Aki. Just let me go see her—!" Minato even tried to shove Shinjiro back. He only moved him an inch as Shinjiro gave him a 'what in the living hell are you trying to do' look and crossed his arms. "Seriously?"

"Just let him go, Minato."

Minato and Shinjiro looked over at Junpei, his arms crossed as he was leaning against the stairs. Shinjiro was a bit surprised that Junpei, of all people, was on his side—for maybe a few seconds.

"I mean, why not? Probably wants alone time with her—couldn't even get that shit from her when she was awake."

_And there it is._ Shinjiro thought as he felt his cheeks heating up in anger as he pushed Minato to the side, almost into the wall, and walked towards Junpei. "Don't call the kettle black, Iori. You tried to flirt with her when she was upset over you and Yoshino!"

Junpei gulped, his eyes shooting up towards Shinjiro—if death glares could kill—Minato made sure to keep an eye on them, making sure no one threw a punch or pushed the other down the stairs. Minako and Yukari were watching from nearby on the first floor. This made Minako's anxiety rise a bit. She hated to see her friends, especially those two, fight over a girl. Especially someone whom she helped out with a month ago.

Junpei felt his lip trembling with anger. "Oh? I was at least trying to fix my mistakes by talking to her!" He stated as Minato sensed a punch coming soon, which made him move closer to the two assholes bickering on the stairs. "You just wanted to hold her hand and try to woo her but you were stuck on Minako for the longest time!" His right hand shot outward towards Minako on the first floor.

"Could we not bring me into this?!" Minako called out as she felt herself putting her hand to her forehead and rubbing it. Boys always caused her the occasional headache.

Shinjiro felt his heart squeeze at how much that ached. "Listen, Iori. YOU of all people know what I had to do in order to save Yoshino from her Persona attacking her." Now, he was going to lay it out, in front of everyone, his issue—might as well. "Fuuka's Persona, I have no damn clue what it does, but it calmed me down! If you even tried to get Fuuka near Chidori, then maybe she wouldn't have to rely on something that could possibly kill her." Shinjiro blurted out as Minako moved closer to the stairs, connecting the dots. Minato did as well—he moved to the railing and looked over at Shinjiro.

"Senpai…are you…dying?" He whispered softly as Minako rubbed her arms, wanting to hear the answer from Shinjiro himself.

Shinjiro felt the eyes of everyone on him and closed his eyes tightly. He felt himself getting embarrassed and a bit terrified. "I…I don't know. The suppressant pills have made my body unable to regulate normal body temperature." He explained as Minako turned her head as Minato's eyes grew. "Those in Strega cannot stop taking them—their Persona could kill them, as you saw last month, Iori."

Junpei swallowed, feeling his palms getting wet from the tension in the room—and from Shinjiro spatting his name with malice.

"These pills…" He lowered his beanie over his eyes. "…are killing me slowly. I don't know when I will die, but," Shinjiro looked around at everyone, unable to say the next few words as he feared it might send him over the edge.

"…don't tell Fuuka." Junpei connected the dots as he lowered his arms at his side, the truth hitting him faster than Shinjiro punching someone. "…shit." He whispered as he held onto the railing, his eyes darting around as he thought he would get sick.

Minako walked up the stairs, Yukari quickly behind, as she came up towards Shinjiro—his cheeks a light pink, as if she was hallucinating it. "Shinjiro…is that why you wanted my help with…" Minako could see Shinjiro nod his head once. "And…Fuuka's Persona, you said earlier, helped calm down Castor?" Another nod from Shinjiro as Minako crossed her arms. "Have you mentioned this to Mitsuru—let me take a guess: no?"

Shinjiro did another nod as Minako was at an impasse—Fuuka needs to be alive, and awake, to keep Shinjiro alive, for now. The suppressants can only work so far-and wouldn't he ever run out? She felt herself cover her lips, trying to think of something, anything.

"Senpai," Yukari peeped up after the silence was deafening, as she crossed her hands behind her back, "are you trying to wing yourself off of those pills?" Shinjiro nodded. Yukari turned towards Minako, Minato, and then Junpei. "…I see." She whispered as Shinjiro turned his head towards Minato, his eyes somewhat pleading to let him go see her.

"That's why you want to leave—if she's awake, you can relax and get better." Minato stated as it came full circle to him.

_ Dammit. And who knows when Fuuka would even wake up? _

Minato thought as he let out a heavy sigh. "Go. I'll cover for you—but," Minato held up two fingers, "only for two hours. You need your rest as she does, too." He mentioned as he could see Shinjiro smile in the corner of his lip as he zipped down the stairs, carefully moving around the juniors, as Junpei reached out to grab his arm.

"H-hey… I just… …sorry. But, tell us how she is, okay?" Junpei stated as he let go of Shinjiro's arm. "A-and…just treat her right, for us. She's special to all of us." Everyone nodded slowly, not in sync though, as Shinjiro turned to face them all.

"…yeah, yeah. I like her, alright?" He stated—Minako was then positive she saw a blush on his cheeks. "Just…" He scratched the back of his head. "…leave her to me." Shinjiro mentioned as he only had a few hours before the trains would stop running, so he quickly moved down the stairs and towards the entrance to the outside world.

_ Maybe…she is helping him. One step at a time, okay, Shinjiro? _

Minako thought as she felt a smile forming on her lips. "About time he admitted it, right? Now, if only he could say it to her…" She mused outloud as she walked up the stairs and straight past Minato. "…it's always the quiet ones you have to watch out for, right, brother?"

Minato felt his cheeks heating up, feeling a bit spiteful that he should be in Shinjiro's spot; he thought as he began to wave the others away as he walked towards his room. "…don't bring me into this."


	6. Blood, Sweat, & Tears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am getting really bad at not uploading these sooner rather than later. I apologize--I am on my second week of training and it's really tiring. But, I am excited to learn new stuff and not too worried!
> 
> There is a good fluff scene at the end of this--no hospital scene for this chapter.

_September 12th_

As if there already wasn't tension enough in the dorm, Fuuka can feel the sparks between Akihiko and Shinjiro. She didn't know what caused both boys to have bruised cheeks (she assumed they punched each other because they act like brothers), but knew it had to be a touchy subject. That was two days ago and although the tension was diffused, she could sense some frustration between them. Then again, when isn't someone frustrated inside the dorm? With all these people living together, heads were bound to collide eventually.

So, in order to make herself feel better, she decided to cook something for the few SEES members that were actually here. Junpei and Koromaru was out, as well as Aigis, and Minato. She crossed her arms and remembered a recipe her mother told her that is super easy: beef stroganoff. She walked into the kitchen and began to pull out the ingredients she picked up a week ago as she hoped no one would notice.

Half an hour later, Shinjiro came downstairs as he almost felt like gagging. He thought something was burning—Shinjiro moved to the kitchen and saw Fuuka admiring her poorly looking beef stroganoff. Shinjiro's eyes were as big as dinner plates as he wanted to scold Fuuka for using the dorm's decent pots and pans. He just stared at her until Fuuka looked at him, a smile as big as her face on her lips.

Shinjiro blinked as he started to move carefully towards Fuuka. He looked down at the food and looked at her again. "What in the hell did you make?"

Fuuka gulped, knowing that wasn't a good sign if Shinjiro couldn't distinguish what she made. "B-beef stroganoff…?"

"Is _that_ a question, Yamagishi?" Fuuka shook her head as Shinjiro rubbed his forehead, knowing this had to be remade.

"Senpai?"

Both turned to the opened door that as Minako was there, calling out to Shinjiro. "I was trying to catch up to you… Wh…what is that smell?" She asked as she couldn't distinguish if that was a good or bad smell. Fuuka felt her cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

"It smells?" She asked softly.

"It seems Yamagishi wanted to try cooking herself." Shinjiro stated as he took off his pea coat and reached for a nearby apron. "And yes, your nostrils are going to be irritated as I will fix this."

Fuuka's face lit up, but then quickly dimmed as Shinjiro threw her food away. "Oh? Can I watch?" Minako asked as she moved her body onto a bar stool, getting a bit comfortable. "So what was she trying to make?"

"Beef stroganoff—but it looks like she messed up a bit of the ingredients." Shinjiro pulled his beanie off and began to tie his hair back, into a small ponytail, as he wiped his forehead of a small bead of sweat on his face. "So," he turned to Fuuka, his arms crossed, "what did you do about the roux?"

Fuuka smiles again, contagious as Minako began to smile and wonder if Shinjiro could fix her disastrous mess. "I didn't use any—I made it from scratch with flour."

"Yamagishi, don't start acting proud. You burned the hell outta this."

Fuuka noticed the pan had some burnt crumbs all over the pan. It was hard to prove the pan was silver unless you looked on the outside of it. "You are right. I did burn it…"

Shinjiro sighed heavily, trying to keep calm around Fuuka's calm and carefree demeanor. He looked around and turned his eyes towards the teal-headed girl. "Did you have any left over ingredients?"

She quickly nodded her head. "Of course—I always buy extra of everything!"

Shinjiro felt a small smile creep up on his lips. "Pay attention—I'll make it the way you are suppose to make it." Minako raised an eyebrow, not aware that Shinjiro could cook—Akihiko wasn't kidding when they talked a couple weeks ago. "…Arisato," Minako blinked as Shinjiro brought her mind back to reality, "is this okay for dinner?"

"Why not? I can't wait to try it out and see how it's done myself." Minako grinned as Shinjiro tied the apron around him and then fixed Fuuka's apron up again. "Just don't get your hopes up _just_ yet." Shinjiro let out a chuckle as Fuuka walked over to Minako, a small frown on her face.

"But, Minako-chan? Weren't you going out with Shinjiro-senpai? I don't want to just ruin your plans like this—!"

Before Minako could say anything, Shinjiro called out to Fuuka. "Hey. Let's get started." Fuuka nodded quickly as she made her way back over to Shinjiro.

Minako began to watch the two work in sync, albeit some clumsy moments from Fuuka, as she was surprised that Fuuka didn't give up even after Shinjiro threw the devilish food away.

"So, how much oil did you use?" Shinjiro began as he put about a few teaspoons into the pan, capping it up as he put it away.

"Oh I didn't use any. I thought it would be healthier that way." Fuuka explained, a smile on her lips, as Shinjiro felt his stomach churn at the idea of her not putting oil in.

_For fucks sake that is what helps give the food flavor—_

"And what about the red wine? How much did you put in?"

"Oh I don't know. I put in as much as I thought looked good enough."

"So, how long did you pour it in for?"

"About…two to three seconds."

Shinjiro looked down at the meat, trying to cut it into smaller pieces as he felt his face crestfallen. _Dear god, Yamagishi._

"Why is the meat so fatty?"

Fuuka smiled again, quickly to respond, as Minako put her chin on her hands with her elbows on the table. "I told the butcher to give me the best meat he had!"

Shinjiro stopped trying to cut the meat as he felt like shaking the stupidity out of Fuuka when it came to cooking. "Everything about this is all wrong." He grew silent as Minako could see Fuuka play with the end of her apron, feeling a bit defeated. "Listen: don't start messing around with advance recipes until you've improved your basic cooking skills." He explained. "Do you feel bad about charring all this food?"

Fuuka nodded slowly, keeping her head down. "Of course—this is expensive food, too. I'm sorry." She whispered as Minako wanted to speak up from her feeling sad, but Shinjiro just put his hand on her head and messed up her hair a bit.

"That's part one of a punishment from me. Now, part two is listening to me and watching me do this. First off," he held up a finger and made Fuuka look up at him, "prepare everything beforehand. Trust me, it will save a lot of time. Measure out all the seasonings and chop everything out that needs to be chopped out. That way, you can focus your attention on the cooking part and not panic."

Fuuka nodded as she began to look around for a memo pad. "Y-Yes, of course! Memo…memo…"

Within a few minutes, Shinjiro began to get everything under control—he washed the vegetables and began cutting them, showing Fuuka how to cut with a sharp knife correctly. Fuuka nodded and watch, writing down everything she saw as quickly as she could. "Now," Shinjiro began to toss onions into the pan, once it got warmer by heating the sizzling from the pan, "gotta cook the onions on low heat. Cooked onions are the best part of the dish—you don't want to burn them."

She nodded slowly and wrote while she spoke, "Cook onions on low heat—"

"Put that notepad down and watch me. It'll be better to do that." Shinjiro stated as Fuuka placed the notepad off onto the table, along with her pen, and watched Shinjiro picking up the meat in a bowl. "Here's the meat—" he showed Fuuka to emphasis it, "—when you put it in…"

Slowly and delicately, Shinjiro explained how food should be properly cooked. His hands moved swiftly and surely as he showed Fuuka the proper way with basic steps.

After an hour of hellish pain, at least that's what Shinjiro thought, the dish was finally prepared— **correctly**. It looked as if it could be one of those featured meals from a magazine or cooking network. The aroma was to die for—it was ready to take you to heaven and back home without realizing it.

Fuuka was in awe as she couldn't even touch it, scared she might mess it up. "Oh wow! It looks so good!"

"Shut up and eat it before it gets cold." Shinjiro uttered as he put the dirty dishes into the sink. Fuuka and Minako both looked at it, not really wanting to ruin his masterpiece.

Minako took out her chopsticks and grinned. "Well, if you say so! Time to chow down!" She didn't know where to stick her chopsticks in—so, with it being Minako, she dug right into the center, with an exasperated sigh coming from Shinjiro's lips.

_Damn. Not like you could take it from the sides like a normal person._

Case in point, Fuuka took a small portion of noodle and meat as she opened her mouth to let the juices fill her mouth—she let out a happy moan, not realizing something like this could be made if she paid more attention.

Minako let out the same sigh of happiness as she could see Shinjiro joining in on the fun. "Thank you for the food!" Minako chimed in, making Fuuka nod her head in agreement.

Shinjiro gulped some food down as his cheeks turned a hint of pink in the corners of his cheeks. "…yeah, it's nothing…"

"But," Fuuka looked up at Shinjiro once she finished off swallowing the food in her mouth, "you're amazing, Shinjiro-senpai."

"Anyone can do something like this."

"No way." She shook her head as she held up her pinkie finger. "Please, could you teach me again? I promise to do much better." She smiled softly, hoping that she could convey her determination while still being convincing.

Shinjiro let out a sigh and shrugged. "Not like I have anything else to do. But, you will do it by yourself next time." He looked at her pinkie and just put her hand down, not confirming or denying that promise to make.

After a few more minutes of eating and chatting between each other, Fuuka insisted that she cleaned—it was the least she could do today after all Shinjiro did. He moved over to the loveseat and Minako sat adjacent to him. Shinjiro looked up at the ceiling, his thoughts somewhere else currently.

" ' _…teach me again_ '. Huh." He repeated Fuuka's words as he looked back at Minako. "She was so itching to make me promise that I couldn't say **no** to her." He crosses his arms and closed his eyes, deep in thought.

_Maybe…maybe that nature of her lured me in._

"Well, I guess I better be prepared to do more cooking again."

Minako scooted up in her seat and smiled at an idea that crossed her mind. "Why not make a meal for all of us? Like a little party or something?"

Shinjiro opened his eyes and slightly glared at her. "Here? That's pushing it a bit, Arisato." He mentioned but then he sat on the idea for a moment. Recipes pouring in his head of what could accommodate 10 or so people and what would blend well together. "Well, you got a point—maybe we could do something like that, **once** in a while."

Minako gasped as she clapped her hands together, thrilled that his answer wasn't a _no_ as she felt this was a personal victory for her. She was somewhat happy to see this side of Shinjiro that not many people get to see. Then again, maybe Akihiko and Mitsuru _have_ seen this side at least once or twice.

"I think I'm gonna go check up on Fuuka—" It was as if he had a sixth sense when it came to her; he heard a crash and then Fuuka yelling as he sighed. "—too late." He moves a bit quickly, knowing how much of a clumsy person Fuuka was as Minako followed behind.

Shinjiro opened the door carefully as he saw some glass on the floor, from one of the cups they were drinking from, as Fuuka's shoulders were curled in towards her as he could see her slightly trembling. This put Minako on edge and made Shinjiro go protective as he went to check up on her. "Fuuka?" He asked as he noticed that the step stool that she and other people use was flipped on its side. Shinjiro also noticed that there was more glass near Fuuka.

He moved carefully around, asking Minako to clean up the glass near the stove, as he stepped in front of Fuuka. "…Fuuka…?" He whispered and noticed that she had tears stinging her eyes and noticed that her hand had a decently sized cut, at least a good inch and a few millimeters deep. Even Shinjiro winced at the pain she must be feeling. She was trying her best to hold back her sobs as she could barely see Shinjiro through her tears.

Fuuka took a shaky breath and tried to explained what happened. "I-I was washing dishes…a-and I was putting up the d-dried glasses…" Shinjiro nodded as he began to pull the first aid kit from underneath the sink and looked for gauze, not noticing the water gathered at the front of the sink. "…a-and I mis-calculated my step—th-thought my foot would be closer t-to the ground…w-water from the sink—" she pulled her hand closer as Shinjiro noticed some blood dripping onto the floor between them and around the area near the sink.

"It's okay—" Shinjiro calmly said, a quick nod from Fuuka and Shinjiro knew this wasn't going to be pretty. He began to translate what she said through her sobs, trying to fully understand what occurred. "You were trying to put up cleaned dishes, after you washed and dried them," Fuuka nodded, "and as you were coming down the step stool, you slip and fell because of, I'm assuming, the water from the sink," which made Fuuka nod again, "and…" he removed the paper towel from her hand, already soaked in some blood, as he saw some tiny shards in her hand. "Fuck…" he whispered as he turned to Minako. "Hey, you're a girl—"

"...that explains why I have breasts. Why?"

Minako joked as she could see the seriousness in Shinjiro's eyes. "Do you have pliers or something? That thing you use for eyebrows that Takeba claims is a lifesaver."

Minako nodded. "Yeah, let me go get it." She put the broom and dustpan down as it was just the two of them in the kitchen. Shinjiro turned his attention to Fuuka, noticing that Fuuka couldn't have made a mess of the water that quickly. "Listen, hold on—" he stated as he picked her up slowly and placed her on the counter so he could get a better look at her hand and to make sure the glass was all cleaned up.

He opened the door to the sink, not realizing it at first because of Fuuka's injury, but that there was a small leak coming from a pipe towards the front of the cabinet doors—he saw the wood was damped and saw the foot size puddle near where the blood droplets begin. He began to turn the water supply off. "W-will it leave a scar?"

Fuuka speaking out of the blue, her cheeks stained with tears, made Shinjiro turn back towards her and his face turned softer, as if he was taking care of Koromaru. "…honestly, it **might**." He stated as Fuuka's eyes showed worry as he had to quickly back pedal. "B-but, it doesn't look too deep."

_Nice save, dumb ass._

He chided to himself internally as he put a hand on Fuuka's head. "Why were you holding two glasses?"

She sniffed her nose, feeling her snot was drying up after all the crying she did in less than a few minutes. "T-the one over by the fridge…that's the one I fell into…" Fuuka nudged her elbow to show which one fell into it—Shinjiro checked for any cuts, and relieved there wasn't any. "…a-and I had the second one i-in my hand. I was coming down the stool because there wasn't enough room—and th-then…"

_Ahhhh. Mitsuru might have just bought too many glasses and it got overcrowded…_ Shinjiro nodded as he realizing that perhaps some of the dishes were new ones, and hoping those two glasses weren't. "…you fell and the glass shattered in your hand," Fuuka nodded as Shinjiro felt his shoulders shrink, "damn Fuuka. You might be a bit bruised and sore tomorrow—I'll find some medicine to ease the pain." He rubbed the top of her head gently as Minako came back holding two types of pliers—a small one and a slightly bigger one.

"I-I didn't know which one." She stated as she walked towards Shinjiro as he grabbed both of them. "I can buy some new ones—" she made sure to say that before Fuuka could apologize for ruining hers.

Shinjiro nodded as Fuuka winced the moment he pulled the paper towel back. "Minako," getting onto a more personal level than before, which Minako didn't flinch at her own name being said, "could you look for…gauze, antibiotic cream…" he looked at Fuuka's wound, almost reminding him of an injury he had long, long ago when he was a kid in the orphanage, "…some dressings, gloves…and look for some acetaminophen, for pain."

Minako nodded as she pulled out the supplies from the first aid kit while Shinjiro looked at Fuuka's hand again. "I was going to say look for some peroxide, but I don't want to subject Fuuka to more pain." He mentioned to Minako as he held her hand in his, her hand cold because of some blood loss, and reached for the smallest pliers first. Shinjiro shot his eyes up towards Fuuka, their hearts skipping a beat and they stared at each other for a moment. "You always seem to get my hands on you—remind me to make sure Mitsuru actually fixes the damn dorm up."

Fuuka nodded. "O-of course." She whispered as Minako came by, accidentally slamming the supplies next to Fuuka and breaking their connection. Fuuka lowered her head as Shinjiro thanked Minako and turned his eyes back to Fuuka's small hand. He felt a bit nervous—this was her dominant hand and didn't want to make the situation worse. He put on the gloves, surprised they were a bit bigger than his own hands, and got focused as he let out a deep breath, carefully removed the few tiny shards that were embedded in her hand. Her fingers were twitching every time he removed one shard at a time. Shinjiro sighed heavily, knowing Fuuka had no control in what pain she was feeling.

Minako kept her hands in front of her lap, watching how delicate Shinjiro was when it came to something like this. She _really_ hasn't seen this side of him at all—she was admiring how striking he was when it came to friends. Even those he met this month. Shinjiro put the shards out beside Fuuka's hip, on a napkin, and pulled the last one out, relieved that they weren't bigger than he thought they could be. He looked at her hand, double checking for everything, as he put the pliers down. "Now, this will hurt, a lot." Shinjiro started as he released her hand and reached for the antibiotic cream. "Grin and bear it, okay?"

Fuuka nodded as she saw him putting a small dab on his fingertip as she could sense the small hesitation of hurting her again. Shinjiro carefully, and delicately, put the cream on one end of the laceration and Fuuka let out an aching cry. She laid her forehead on Shinjiro's shoulder, her teeth gritting in pain as Minako began to unwrap the gauze and the dressing. "Shhhh. Shhh. It's okay." He whispered back into her ear as Minako thought she was intruding on this tender moment. Her eyes still showed worry as she might have dealt with some battle scars, but Fuuka never has gotten injured in battle so she wasn't used to the pain that everyone else got used to.

Shinjiro applies a little more ointment as Fuuka began to feel more tears stinging her eyes. "We are almost done." He whispered as he put a tiny bit on the other corner of the laceration and waited for the ointment to dry for a moment. Shinjiro reached for the dressing and opened it—he was glad it was the perfect size for her hand. "Just gotta place this on here…" He noticed her hand slowly starting to let less blood come out as he told her to hold the dressing. He reached for the gauze and began to wrap her hand as Fuuka removed her fingers little by little.

Minako, almost in a daze at watching those two, began to sweep around and picking up all the glass shards the best she could. She made a mental note to get the vacuum sweeper in here to make sure she didn't miss any pieces. Their body language conveyed they trusted each other, and she wondered if Fuuka was falling in love. She truly thought that her brother and Fuuka would've been the one he chose, but maybe she's not decided?

"There." Shinjiro double checked his work as Fuuka's hand was wrapped up very neatly. Fuuka looked at her own hand, feeling exhausted after noticing how quickly he took care of her.

"…thank you, Shinjiro…" she whispered as she removed her head from his shoulder blade as she saw Minako finishing her small task of cleaning up the glass. She didn't realize how much blood she did lost, maybe a couple teaspoons worth, as she felt herself turn a bit white. Shinjiro noticed her looking around.

"I'll take care of it. As for you," Shinjiro made sure to draw her attention back to him, "every morning before you go to school, let me check your wound. That way we can make sure it'll be safe throughout the day." He began to say as he took off his gloves and threw them in the trash bin. "Also, keep your hand elevated for the next few minutes to keep blood flow minimal to your hand. And take acetaminophen—" he held up a bottle that was inside of the first aid kit, "—follow the directions and you should be fine." He gave those to her as he began to reach for a paper towel and water to clean up her blood.

Fuuka nodded as she began to push herself off of the counter but found herself too exhausted to do so. She let out a breathless sigh, as if she was holding it in for too long, and pulled the old "puppy dog eyes" trick. Shinjiro could hear her struggling as he came eye to eye with her as he felt his cheeks heated up. "Sorry…I can't… can you help me?"

Shinjiro sighed and let out a good chuckle as he shook his head. "You've got me wrapped around your finger, huh? Do you have a particular way of how to be helped upstairs?"

She was a bit flabbergasted, wanting to be a bit greedy, but felt they haven't grown that much just yet. "J-just help me off the counter for now." Shinjiro obeyed and helped her off as she took a few seconds to get the blood back to her head and feet. Fuuka seemed okay, steady at first, as she saw Minako's worried eyes. Minako turned towards Shinjiro, a small smile on her lips.

"Senpai, why don't you get her upstairs? I'll take of the mess—but at least come back to see if I did cleaned it correctly?" She suggested as Shinjiro nodded and waited until Fuuka was distracted.

"Oh? But I couldn't—"

Fuuka felt her breath leaving her lips as she felt Shinjiro swooping her into his arms, all bridal style like, as Minako covered her lips and tried to stifle her chuckle. "Sh-Shinjiro—"

"No complaints. You need rest." He walked towards the door and kicked the door and used his back to prop it open so he could leave. "Now, keep that hand elevated." He was as cool as a cucumber as Fuuka nodded and kept her hand hovered above her head. "N-not **that** high…"

They walked up the stairs carefully as Minako popped her head out to see how far they were up the stairs as she felt her chest cave inward as she kicked the ground a bit with her foot. "He could have told me he _liked_ her. I would've helped sooner…" she bemused outloud as she closed the door and went back to cleaning up Fuuka's blood, knowing that this might be a 'no' on going to Tartarus tonight and possibly tomorrow. She admired how Fuuka's confidence has grown over the last few months. And she wanted to keep it growing as she found someone she enjoyed—now, she was conflicted on letting Minato know about them or Shinjiro knowing about them.

"Oh boy. This is going to be a doozy." She mentioned as she put a hand to her forehead, knowing this is going to get ugly.

* * *

Fuuka felt herself being whisked to her room—she could swear up and down that she was hallucinating, but Shinjiro was carrying her up to her room. She blinked and realized she was not dreaming at all. Her heart pounded quickly as she watched him expertly opening up her room with his arms still holding her close to him.

"Is there any clothes or something you need?" Shinjiro asked, noting that her room totally screamed 'I AM A GIRL AND I LOVE FLOWERS' but the aroma from her flowers made him a bit confused. "Also, what is that smell?" He laid her down on her bed, noticing she would need some clothes to change into—there was some blood on her school uniform.

"Lavender—I use some to help me relax and get some sleep…" She mentioned as Shinjiro began to look for some night clothes for her. He looked absolutely confused as he picked up a t-shirt and some shorts—it made Fuuka laugh weakly as she laid down on her bed. "Those will work, senpai—it's workout clothes Sanada-senpai gave me."

"Wait. What?"

"He thought I should get buffed and what not. Too bad the clothes are a size too big on me—so he thinks I've…a-already worked out and that I looked good. To be honest, he doesn't have a good memory."

"I think I've hit him a few too many times in the head. That might be the reason why." Shinjiro stated as he watched her sit up and hold her clothes in her lap. "…is there something wrong?"

"…a-are you sure you want to see me change?" Fuuka pointed out as Shinjiro felt his cheeks tint pink, her head tilting a bit as she fell to the side and she caught herself with her good hand. "…ahhh…mmmm…"

Shinjiro sat on the bed with her, noticing she was a bit warm. "Take the medicine first, for me." He reached for the acetaminophen and one of her water bottles nearby. "Here." Fuuka took the medicine and the water as he wondered how he could help her with her clothes. Mitsuru would not be pleased if he was in the room with their navigator, but would she understand the situation?

_Dammit. Maybe I should ask Minako for help. She's—_

"Senpai? …Shinjiro?" She had to call for his name as Shinjiro blinked himself back into reality. "…I don't care, to be honest, if you have to see me. This is probably a dream, or a hallucination." Fuuka laughed weakly, noticing her wound was slightly bleeding again. Shinjiro let out a low curse and rubbed his temple.

"Fine, fine. Besides, you have blood on your clothes—I'll have to see if anyone could help me clean it out." Shinjiro stated as he wondered how tired and how out of it Fuuka _really_ was. He watched her undress, a little camisole underneath her turtleneck, and he could see the white bra straps—he felt a bit aroused, but shook the feeling away. "Now, your skirt, too." He helped her up, slowly, as she could barely get the skirt off as she reached for the water next to her again, sipping it again.

Fuuka gave the skirt to Shinjiro as he saw her clad in her panties—a baby blue bra and panties, with white lace around her legs and her waist, and wait-was that a matching set? _Now_ , Shinjiro was a bit aroused. He didn't even know she had a small hourglass figure—why hide something like that? He coughed softly as he put her clothes on her desk and helped her slowly into her shorts and her one size too big shirt.

Shinjiro began to slightly fantasize about what she would look like in his own turtlenecks—and he made sure Fuuka was sitting down, safely on her bed, as he took off his beanie and ran his fingers through his hair.

_Hey, brain? Could you lay off the sexual thoughts FOR FIVE MINUTES?!_

He took a minute to compose himself as he noticed Fuuka was dozing off while sitting up—he was a bit impressed, but knew she needed rest. "H-Hey, get into the bed before you sleep sitting up, Fuuka." He uttered as he helped her move into the sheets, a small sigh escaping his lips as Shinjiro was relieved she was doing better this time around.

Shinjiro focused as he saw the cut in her hand stop bleeding—but, he still wanted to get it fixed before she made it worst. "I'm going downstairs—want anything?" He asked her as she shook her head. Shinjiro could see that she was getting sleepier by the minute. He put on his beanie and went to go get the first aid kit. He couldn't believe that no one was helping him out—granted, Minako was friendly and helping her with her wound, but now they were alone, he was hoping she'd jump in and help.

Unfortunately, she was already gone and he was cursed (or perhaps blessed?) to deal with Fuuka and her hand. Shinjiro grabbed the first aid kit on the counter and moved back up to Fuuka's room. Entering it slowly and quietly, he could hear a light sigh coming from her bed and noticed that she was already asleep. Shinjiro could sigh 20 pounds off his shoulders as he moved the first aid kit to her table in the middle of the room and began to treat her hand while she was sleeping.

He looked at her sleeping face, not realizing how peaceful it was after she cried and sobbed everywhere. _Is this what Minako meant as gross sobbing?_ He shook his head as he was able to clean up her wound faster with her being still and quiet. Shinjiro threw away her dirty bandages in the little bin near her desk and turned to face her again. He bit his lip, wondering why it was so quiet in her room—just then, the A/C unit kicked on and some white noise filled the room.

Shinjiro scratched the back of his head as he carefully moved Fuuka's hand back underneath her comforter and watched as she grabbed a nearby stuffed animal—he didn't realize she would still sleep with something like that. He didn't judge, just knew it might help her sleep better. Shinjiro shook his head as he stared at her too long, remembering what she looked like minutes ago and felt himself getting aroused again—he began to think of sad things, or ugly things.

_Aki in drag. Aki in drag._

That barely worked as he kept chanting the words over and over in his head. After a few seconds, he realized that he had been in her room for too long—he cleaned up her hand and should've left minutes ago. So, why did he stay?

Shinjiro made sure Fuuka was okay, for at least a few more minutes and began to lean over her—he stopped himself. He couldn't do this, right?

_She's just a friend. …someone who helps me with my Persona issues._ He thought silently as he sat down on her bed as Fuuka turned towards him. _Dammit. Girls are going to be the death of me._

He reached down, ruffled her hair up a bit, and kissed the top of her head. Granted, he thought that was the least he could do—he was told that as a kid, while in the orphanage, that a kiss on the head meant you admire them and wish them the best of luck. Oh, and that it brought them good dreams while they slept. So, Shinjiro was being less selfish tonight and thought of Fuuka before him. He reached for the first aid kit, after he got up from her bed, and walked to the door as quietly as he could.

Shinjiro couldn't bother her with his feelings—he knew that Minako might be right on the dot about him, but knew that Fuuka wouldn't like him back. He had too many demons inside of him, and couldn't tell her _all_ about them. Not now. Maybe, not _ever_.

He opened and closed the door as quiet as he could as he was finally outside of her room. Shinjiro took the first aid kit back to the kitchen and then turned off the lights—he sat downstairs in the living room, wondering if would be able to sleep with the teal-hair girl in his mind. For once, he wouldn't care if that was the case. It was simply one more reason to lose sleep over for.


	7. Unfair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love being sick and working 10-12 hours four days a week and not being able to get on and post chapters. I fully apologize--I should have the next chapter up sometime this week, since I've gotten a couple more chapters finished. I thought I already uploaded this, but I guess I didn't.
> 
> Hopefully, the wait was worth it (which I think I say every time I post a new one cause it's months!) and I am hoping to be done with this story before February rolls around.
> 
> Also, no hospital/flashforward part--gotta get into the juice bits! Minor nudity scene in-coming.

_ September 14th _

After a long couple hours of watching food being cooked by Shinjiro, and enjoying the delicious food he made, Fuuka, and the others, were as happy as they could be. Minako must have convinced him to do a little get together with everyone—even Mitsuru and Ken were pleased with the results. She looked down at the hand, still a bit sad that it hasn't started healing yet, but knew that it took patience—it was a bit difficult to write up notes or do homework. She laid her hand in her lap as she saw Minato coming her way. She tilted her head sideways as she could see him stopping behind her chair and a smiled appeared in his lips.

Fuuka felt herself being a bit more closer to Minato any day she had free—she even had something to give him, so now it'll be the best time as everyone was full and tired. "What is it?" She asked as she watched him reach for her good hand and held her close as Koromaru began laying down and Ken gaging with his finger pointing to his tongue off at the side.

"I want to talk to you—could we go to your room?" He asked as Fuuka felt her cheeks heating up. A quick nod and within minutes they were heading to Fuuka's room. Minako, after washing her face and heading downstairs to use the shower, saw that she watched Fuuka unlock her door to her room and saw her twin brother heading in with her. She let out a small gasp as she heard the door shut quietly and the lock clicking in place. Minako walked back into her room, unable to believe she was with Minato. She swore that she was admiring Shinjiro more than her brother—Minato wasn't a bad brother at all, just that he got possessive, even though he was a silent leader.

Minako bit her lip as she didn't see them come out for another minute or two. She was trying her hardest to get them together—Shinjiro and Fuuka that is—and frowned as she worried that Shinjiro would find out. She knew she had to go to someone whom she believed might be able to help her out. She grabbed her bath stuff and new clothes as she tipped toed passed a Fuuka's bedroom and flew down the stairs towards the boy's door she wanted to knock on. "Akihiko-senpai? Could I come in and talk to you?"

* * *

Fuuka felt the tension slowly diffuse around them as she explained she had a gift for him. Minato raised an eyebrow as he saw a Fuuka with a pair of headphones—silver mixed in with a tint of baby blue. They looked sharp and Fuuka smiled at him.

"I made these—I knew your current pair was…probably worn from wear and tear. And thought you might like these." She stated as Minato began to put them to his ear while he unplugged the old ones from his MP3 player and plugged the new ones in. His eyes grew in amazement.

"Fuuka…the sound on these is amazing!" He could hear every little instrument, as if they were made to be the most expensive pair, and yet they were **free**. Minato threw his old pair into her trash can and saw her cheeks heating up.

"I know I'm not really feminine, aren't I?" She whispered as she played with the end of her skirt, feeling nervous all of a sudden. "And this is just something I like to do on my spare time—I thought of you and knew you'd like them."

Minato walked over to her and put his arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace. "So? This is who _you_ are. I hope you keeping doing what you love." He whispered as he put his hands on the top of her head, watching as she looked up at him. "I hope you could teach me everything you know."

Fuuka felt her heart picking up as she saw their eyes locked onto each other. Her breath seemed to be caught in her throat—she wondered if she could convey what she felt before it was too late. In a blink of an eye, she felt Minato's lips on hers—soft, and small plump lips on her own made her barrier come down as she didn't worry about anything or anyone.

But, deep in her mind, her thoughts did come across Shinjiro, and even Junpei a bit—she was the first to remove her lips as she looked at how determined Minato was. "Minato…"

"I don't care if you like Junpei—"

"He doesn't like me."

Fuuka quickly inserted before Minato continued onward. Minato was a bit startled at how quick Fuuka responded to that rumor in a heartbeat. "Chidori?"

"Chidori."

"Ah." He nodded as he cupped her cheek tenderly, being as suave as he could. Minato never wanted to play the second man—he felt more like a man to lead. It seemed to be something that was thrusted upon himself most of the time. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She thought for a moment. "I do, but I would rather think of you at a time like this. Junpei is with Chidori, he likes her, and I have stopped chasing him." She explained as she wrapped her arms around his neck, which made Minato wrap his arms around her waist and waited for her move. She began to think briefly about Shinjiro and the dream of him kissing her forehead—she didn't realize it happened in reality. Losing blood makes you a bit loopy and exhausted. "I have no qualms with you."

Minato took that as his cue and carefully maneuvered Fuuka towards her bed and laid her down gently. "Fuuka, I promise, that I won't hurt you in any way. You have been so precious to me that I cannot see you in such a negative light." He removed his uniform jacket and tossed it aside. "I'll be sure to love you like no one has."

Fuuka was speechless—she heard rumors of him sweet talking his way with Yukari and Chihiro, then again they were just rumors. Her cheeks were stained a bright, red color, looking like a tomato. She could see Minato move toward her lips, one leg in between her own pair of legs, as he slithered up towards her as Fuuka wrapped her arms around his neck. Their lips touched and Fuuka was in bliss.

* * *

Akihiko opened the door to his room, seeing a nerve-wracked Minako waiting for him. "Minako? Is everything okay?" She shook her head as she barged in and closed the door, locking it herself as she turned to put her stuff on Akihiko's desk and turned to face him. Her face covered in worry, a couple beads of sweat running down her neck, and she felt like she was having a panic attack.

"Listen, wh-whatever I say to you, right now, in this room, cannot leave this room." Minako pulled his desk chair out from said desk and sat down in it. She looked as if she was writ with anxiety. Akihiko nodded slowly, reaching for one of his protein shakes and sat down on the bed. "And you cannot tell Shinjiro. I don't want him to be angry and start a fight."

Akihiko's eyes grew, not knowing what she could be meaning. "Well? What is it?"

Minako let out a big heavy sigh. "Okay, first off: have you noticed that Shinjiro is more… _what's the word_ … relaxed and a bit happier? Maybe not happier but as if some weight has been lifted off his shoulders?"

"Has he? He seems too busy to hang out with me but once a week, if I'm lucky." He sipped his shake and put it down afterwards on his side table by his bed. "I thought that was because of you. Not that I am hating the idea of him being friendly."

Minako smiled. "Well, yes I might be like… **20%** of the reason why, but Fuuka-chan is the other _80%_." She stayed as he could see Akihiko's eyebrows raise in surprise. "N-now, they are both very friendly to one another—he did help her how to fix her beef stroganoff the other day. And I don't know what Fuuka is saying or doing—doubtful of her doing anything, she seems so shy—but have you noticed how stronger Shinjiro has been in battle?"

Akihiko nodded as he started to get up and moved towards Minako, his hand placed firmly on his desk. "No kidding—critical attacks, more outgoing and confident with his Persona—so Yamagishi is the cause? …" he paused for a moment to let the gears in his head start to turn. "In battle, she does well in keeping our energy going. Just, maybe Shinji is actually listening?"

Minako shook her head as she looked up at Akihiko. "Yes and no. She's got more confident in her skills, too. Have you notice Oracle hasn't been failing us? Like we are getting more energy back quicker and faster. I think it's ten-fold." She mentioned as she held up her finger before Akihiko could speak. "That's in battle though. I think there is something going on between those two. But I cannot pinpoint what it is. The way they talk to each other, seemed more than acquaintances. And…" she looked up at Akihiko and lowered her finger, "…when she hurt her hand, Shinjiro was quick to her aid and it was amazing, like he knew what to do and how to handle everything so calmly!"

Minako felt herself getting worked up—she had to take a breath and put her elbow on his desk and her chin in her hand. "So, why is that a problem?" Akihiko asked as Minako sighed and lowered her eyes to her feet.

"Because I just saw my brother walking into Fuuka's room, alone, and I heard the locked click. …" she whispered as Akihiko leaned against his desk. "…I don't know what to say or do—what if Shinjiro finds out?"

Akihiko crossed his arms, unsure of what to say. He just started a relationship with Minako a month ago, around after the full moon battle in August. Akihiko was just trying to get used to the idea of love much less anything else.

"Why don't you keep an eye on him? I mean, I already try that, but he seems more warmed up to you." He stated as he kept his back to Minako. "You can keep him cool if he does find out. Then again," he turned to face Minako, a small smile on his lips, "wouldn't expect Shinji to be so fond of Yamagishi."

_Then again, she reminds me... ...of Miki. ...just a little bit..._ Akihiko thought silently, wondering if that was the main reason they were always by each other's side. It made him wonder what would've happen _if_ Miki really was alive and saw this happening.

"I know, right? I'm all for Fuuka finding someone after Junpei basically denied all of her outings—"

"Ohhhhh, so that's why Yamagishi was asking for Junpei." A lightbulb went off in Akihiko's head, his brain connecting the neurons. "…but, she's with Arisato in her room."

"Yeeeeeep. Now you see why I am worried?"

Akihiko nodded and reached for his boxing gloves. "I'm not worried because he is in her room." Minako blinked, wondering what he could ever mean. "I'm worried because it sounds like Yamagishi invited your brother to her room. Not the other way around. If you think those two have something in common, Shinji and Yamagishi, then it would probably be a kick in the chest if he saw those two leaving at the same time." He frowned as he began to lace up his gloves and kept his body from facing Minako. "And Shinji usually keeps his anger to himself--hopefully, he still does."

* * *

If one would to look at the monitors on the fourth floor, and peered into Fuuka's bedroom, they would see that their arms and limbs were a tangled mess, just like their clothes on the floor. Minato's hair stuck to his face as he had to catch his breath—he was only clad in his pants as Fuuka was laying there in only her bra and panties. Fuuka laid her arm on her forehead, wondering how something so sinful could feel so good.

"Are you okay?" Fuuka asked Minato as she sat up slowly reaching in to kiss his neck. "It would be a shame to end it just now." She whispered as she nibbled on his neck, determined to have her way with him, if he didn't mind.

He nodded as he wiped his forehead of sweat. "Yeah—guess I needed this as badly as you did, Fuuka." Minato stated as he let out a moan with his head slightly leaning back, letting out a chuckle. "You don't get to have all the fun!" Fuuka gasped as she was grabbed by her hands, a giggle escaping her lips, as Minato laid her back down and let his eyes roam up and down her petite frame.

Minato began to lean forward as his eyes caught a glimpse of her right hand where the laceration a few days ago appeared. He then become concerned as Fuuka turned her head and Minato sat back up again. "What happened to your hand?" He asked as his eyes filled with worry. "Did you get hurt when we went to Tartarus?"

She shook her head. "No no." She sat up with him, her cheeks pink with warmth. "I was putting up some glasses and I fell and got a decent sized cut." She mentioned as Minato showed concern in his eyes. "But don't worry! Minako-chan helped clean up the glass and Shinjiro-senpai fixed me up—"

Minato's eyes turned dark once she brought up Shinjiro. And with that smile on her face, it seemed like it wasn't a big deal to her. " **'Shinjiro-senpai'?** Is that what you are calling him now?" He uttered with a taste of anger on his lips. "What happened with calling him by his last name?" Minato felt his heart was already overcome by jealously and aching in anger.

Fuuka could sense the hostility in Minato's voice. She looked at him as if she just got slapped in the face. "M-Minato…?" Fuuka felt herself move quickly away. His eyebrows were lowered and small winkles appeared between his eyebrows. "H-he is just…"

"Just what, Fuuka?" He spat at her, her heart breaking as she sat there speechless. She couldn't understand why all the boys she cared for seemed to get angry over the name "Shinjiro". A long silence passed as Minato lowered his head and let out a laughter filled with frustration. "…I wanted to make love to you and what—you've _fallen_ for him!" Minato got off the bed and began searching for his clothes off the floor.

"What makes you think I have?!" Fuuka exclaimed as she felt his cold eyes back on her. 

"Because I can feel it when you were kissing me!"

Fuuka winced as she wasn't as experienced as she hoped for, but those words stun her into more silence. He almost yelled those words for everyone in the dorm to hear them. Minato found his dress shirt, putting it on haphazardly, and shook his head. "What the hell am I doing? Should've known that you'd be…" he spoke to himself, stopping before he called her something he shouldn't. He kept his back to her and went to the door. Fuuka got up off the bed, still clad in panties and her bra, as she felt tears stinging her eyes.

_I should've stayed with Yukari--what an idiot **I** am!_

"M-Minato—"

"Don't. Don't **'Minato'** me. Don't suck face with me when you are thinking of Shinjiro." He opened the door, after yelling that last statement a bit loudly, and slammed the door harshly. Fuuka covered her lips, her body trembling as she slumped to her knees and reached for her clothes, tears blurring her vision.

* * *

Minako and Akihiko moved towards the stairway and heard Minato yelling out to Fuuka and then the door was slammed hard; they flinched in sync. Minako covered her lips as she put a hand on Akihiko's shoulder and shook her head. They both heard Minato letting out a heavy sigh as they could hear his footsteps coming towards the stairs. Minako moved her index finger to her lips as they both turned around slowly and saw Shinjiro coming up the stairs from the first floor.

Minako froze, along with Akihiko at her side, as Shinjiro blinked a few times and climbed to the second floor as he crossed his arms. "Just what are you two do—?"

Minato stopped as he was a few steps away from the second floor as he saw Shinjiro coincidentally on the same floor as him. Minako and Akihiko moved away carefully as Shinjiro seemed to feel confused. The silence was deafening as Minato button up his shirt, keeping his eyes trained on Shinjiro. Minako reached for Akihiko's sleeve as she didn't know who was going to respond first.

"What are you looking at?" Minato spat at Shinjiro as he pulled up his zipper on his pants. Shinjiro's eyes squinting as he saw Minato was getting dressed right in front of him. Literally. He buttoned up his shirt only two buttons before Shinjiro spoke to him.

"Why are you giving me attitude?"

Minato huffed, letting out a "tch" as he fixed his hair and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "I don't know. Why don't you ask your little girlfriend upstairs?"

Shinjiro turned to Minako, as she looked back at him, noticing that only Akihiko was with her—Mitsuru and Yukari were busy, he assumed, and Aigis must have been in her room anyway, so he thought of Fuuka instantly. "What did you do?" He carefully said, venom leaking from his words as he moved carefully towards the male twin. Akihiko moved quickly between them, Minako right behind, as he put his hand on Shinjiro's chest.

"Shinji, not now."

"Oh, I didn't do nothing to her. She's just two-faced—" he turned towards Minako and glared at her, "—better watch out: she might take Sanada-senpai, too." Shinjiro felt some anger in the pit of his stomach—he didn't know what it was, but it made him sick to hear how he spoke so badly about Fuuka. Akihiko still kept his hand on Shinjiro's chest as Minato walked by cooly. "Oh," Minato turned towards Shinjiro, a devilish grin upon his lips, "while she was making out with me, she only wanted you. Can't fuck Junpei, doesn't want to fuck me—she wants someone who kisses her boo-boos and make her feel better. Guess she needs a _father_ in her life to screw some sense into her."

Minato gritted his teeth while bringing up his fists to the corner of his eyes and turned them towards his face to resemble tears; Shinjiro felt his ears turning red from embarrassment, anger, and albeit a bit happy, but didn't want to explain that outloud. He wondered if he was a bit chaotic thinking like that. "Don't stay with her—she can't be happy with anyone." Minato moved to his bedroom door, opened and closed it loudly as Akihiko carefully removed his hand from Shinjiro's chest.

Shinjiro took a deep breath, knowing that Minato had to be lying, _right_? Minako and Akihiko watched Shinjiro walk up the stairs, to create less of a nuisance and saw Fuuka's door was still shut. Minako and Akihiko stayed behind, standing on the stairs as Shinjiro stood at the doorway. He turned back around and Minako waved him to keep going. He sighed and turned back to the door, knocking softly on her door.

"Fuuka?" He asked softly as he heard a sob and then a click on the door. Shinjiro hesitated, but moved his hand to the door, his palms sweating, as he tried to open the door but nothing. She locked it on him and to everyone else. Shinjiro turned around and walked towards the two SEES members. "What the hell happened?"

Minako closed her eyes and rubbed her eyelids over and over. "I just saw him going into her room, and half an hour later or so, he yells out… Er…" Minako knew this was going to make her feel even worse for Fuuka. "He said, and I quote," she lowered her voice to a whisper as Shinjiro moved closer, " 'Don't suck face with me when you are thinking of Shinjiro.' And then he slammed the door on her."

"Yeah. Heard that door slamming from all the way on the ground floor…" he uttered as he felt like an idiot. He should have been taking more care of her as he felt hopeless currently. Shinjiro moved to a nearby arm chair and sat down, his fingers hiding his face, as he seemed a bit defeated. No one told him how to react in a situation like this.

Minako sat across from him, sitting on the coffee table, and put her hand on his knee. "Listen: Minato gets really jealous and possessive easily. Teenage boys are like that, sometimes. But, for our sake, and possibly Fuuka's, be there for her. She might not want to see anyone for a little bit." Minako stated, wondering, and hoping that she was right about Minato.

_ I have never seen him act like this—besides, doesn't he have a thing for Yukari anyway? Much of a player, isn't he? _

Minako thought silently as she felt a bit worrisome about the two people she wanted to be together. It annoyed her a bit and thought of something. "Shinjiro, why don't you sit next to Fuuka's door? If she opens it up, maybe she'll let you in and you both could talk?" Minako suggested. "I mean, it doesn't hurt to try. And, maybe I'll go talk to Minato. Maybe I'll take Akihiko with me and we could beat him up?"

"No." Akihiko stated flatly. "We are not beating up a member of SEES, as much as I'd want to."

Minako was just kidding around, so that was another thing to work on with Akihiko at least. Minako got up from her spot, almost face palming, as she could see Shinjiro wrought with anger and fear and heartache. "Shinjiro, just trust me. Us girls are complicated, but I know she'd be happy to know you were there for her, even if it wasn't the best situation currently."

"...Minako, she was _making out_ with **your brother**." Shinjiro stated, his teeth slightly gritting together in anger. "Maybe she doesn't need me." He dejectedly stated as he began to get up and walk away from Minako.

"Shinjiro..." Minako got up slowly and tried to reach out for him but Akihiko stopped her and shook his head. "...Don't be like Minato, okay?" Minako called out as she saw him stopping on the staircase. "Because Fuuka thought of you-don't forget that, alright? She thought of you and probably feared you would hate her." She lowered her head and her arm slowly in sync—she wondered if she was even getting through his head. "Please-"

"...just leave me alone, leader." He stated harshly, darting down the stairs and towards his room and Minako slithered into the empty seat Shinjiro sat in. She didn't even hear the door slam down below—maybe he was going out for some fresh air?

Minako covered her face and ran her fingers through her hair, untying it and closing her eyes tightly. "...this isn't the way it was supposed to happen." She stated softly as she could see Akihiko sitting on the coffee table this time around. "Should we leave him alone?"

"Shinji? … …" Akihiko took a moment to think and nodded after he thought about all that has happened in the last month alone. "Give him half an hour—he might need to walk and let the steam leave his big, inflated head. Go talk to your brother—see if he needs a good punch in the face or not." He stated, holding his fist close to his chest. Akihiko smiled weakly as Minako nodded and began to talk down towards his room.

"I feel like this is my fault, but it isn't... is it?" She whispered to herself as she took the stairs one step at a time and began to look at her brother's door, wondering if this was the best way to solve everything. She could hear him pacing the room over and over—Minako knew this was going to get worse before it got better for everyone.


	8. Hallucinations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I pulled something from the P3 Movie--I feel as if it is a cop-out, but hopefully it was done decently well. I thought about doing this for a while, and debated on this for a few weeks, hence why I kept reading this over and over again. Also, I feel as if I made Fuuka out of character towards the second half of this chapter. 
> 
> This chapter made me feel unsure about a lot of things, but I decided to take a risk with it. It IS an AU that wouldn't really happen, but here you all go~

** Chapter 8:: Hallucinations **

_ September 18th _

It had been four days since Fuuka and Minato’s rendezvous and Fuuka has been depressed ever since. Minako and Junpei giving her free food and seeing her at lunch didn’t help one bit. Yukari itching to get Fuuka to BookWorms so she could pick a new romance novel out didn’t even make Fuuka budge either. And even Shinjiro tried to cook a meal with her—she just said she was constantly busy and had to work on something for school. Minako confirmed her lies through Natsuki, since she confronted her about Fuuka’s odd behavior. 

Today, however, was no different. Except everyone was at the dorm minus Minato. Fuuka sat with the others in the living room as they talked about the typhoon coming through. “Now, there won’t be school until the 24th.” Mitsuru explained. 

_ Good. I can just stay in my bed and rest.  _

Shinjiro shot an eye at Fuuka, noticing she wasn’t reacting like the others were. Who wouldn’t enjoy missing school tomorrow whereas the rest of the days were a holiday? He turned towards the door, just like everyone else did, as they saw Minato dripped with water. Junpei let out a chuckle and commented, “Looks like you got caught in the storm.”

Yukari grabbed him a towel from the bathroom downstairs and handed it to him. He gave her a smile and a small “thanks” as Minako crossed her arms. She wasn’t thrilled if her brother was playing around with Yukari. “Thought you should know,” Minako mentioned as she felt Akihiko’s hand on her shoulder to calm her down, “no school tomorrow. They want to make sure we are all safe.”

Minato nodded as he sat over on the floor next to Koromaru as he tried to lick him clean. Fuuka stood as she turned to everyone. “I am heading up to bed—I think the storm worn me down.” She lied about the storm but began her trek to her room, using the railing to guide her upwards. 

“Fuuka—“ Minako called out as she didn’t hear her or just chose not to. She frowned as she shown some worry to Akihiko and Shinjiro. 

Mitsuru caught on as she eyed the three of them. “Is Yamagishi okay? It sounds like she’s depressed…or sick?” Mitsuru didn’t know how else to distinguish someone who is normally so bubbly now so down and out of it. 

“I think we should go check up on her—“ Minako started as she pulled on Akihiko’s arm. She began to tell Shinjiro to get up, but he already saw her trying to reach for him. “You’ll come too?” She asked as he nodded slowly. 

“I think… I _know_ I should go.” Shinjiro stayed as he rubbed his temple and made his way up the stairs with Minako and Akihiko right behind him. He knew that Minato was the real reason behind this—then again, he felt he was to blame, too. If Fuuka hadn’t harbor a crush on him, then none of this would’ve happened. Shinjiro had no idea if that was a good or bad thing. Falling in love was not a good thing in his book, thinking it was pointless and stupid and a waste. But, Fuuka made sure he saw the humor, the good in life. 

Shinjiro, along with Minako and Akihiko, heard a bloodcurdling scream as he felt his blood run cold. They collectively ran up to Fuuka’s room, knowing everyone was downstairs and wondered if they even heard the scream, too. Shinjiro pushed himself hard as he reach the third floor hallway, found Fuuka’s door and swung it open as his eyes, along with Akihiko and Minako’s, saw Fuuka gasping for air as she was trying to reach for something. 

Minako began to reach towards Fuuka as Shinjiro pushed her back, carefully, and maneuvered his way through the dark room as the light from the hallway illuminated some of her room. “Fuuka…!” He cried out as he saw tears running down her eyes. He wondered if her Persona was attacking her, but how? She seemed to have a strong enough mentality to fight off any advances, but then, he wondered if Minato shutting her down like that was really what caused this. And if she craved for death...

He turned to Akihiko. “Get Mitsuru. Now!” Shinjiro yelled as he saw Akihiko blur out of the room as Fuuka began to reach out to Lucia again, tears stinging her eyes. 

“L-Lucia…! Why!?”

Shinjiro didn’t know what to do—his solution for something like this would be a suppressant, but was this a hallucination? He put his hands carefully on her shoulders, and began to sit down on the edge of her bed. He was a bit speechless—seeing someone he cared for in this predicament made him worry even more. 

He heard a light gasp as Mitsuru was standing in the doorway. “Akihiko was right…” she whispered as she moved into the room—she hadn’t experience something like this before, but she started to think hard and long as she reached for Fuuka, but saw she reached for Shinjiro and grabbed his sleeve and felt Lucia’s grip loosen and then in a blink of an eye, dropped Fuuka on the bed. Mitsuru and Shinjiro could see the beads of sweat pouring down Fuuka’s face as she was hyperventilating. 

Mitsuru gulped, waiting to see if it would happen again. She turned to Shinjiro and leaned down to his ear, “I’m going to call my father. I’ll see if he knows anything about this,” she whispered in his ear as he shook his head. “No?”

He held Fuuka’s hand tightly. “Do that, but let me try to help her, Mitsuru. I can relate.” He stated softly as Fuuka shook and felt her breathing shaking too. “I might have an idea why her Persona attacked her, but let me talk to her.” Mitsuru nodded, surprised that he wanted to lead and try to let her follow behind. 

_ He’s grown. …what did Yamagishi do that I couldn’t? _

By this point, everyone was peeking into the room—terrified looks on Yukari and Junpei’s faces, Ken holding Koromaru in his arms, as he let out a small whine, Aigis didn’t move as she probably didn’t know what was going on—as Minato stared as if he saw a ghost. He didn’t mean to do what he did, but if something like that cause her Persona to attack her—Minato’s eyes grew as he felt Aigis’ eyes upon him. 

Shinjiro leaned over, removing his pea coat and looked down at Fuuka. “Hey, hey. It’s okay. You are safe. You are fine.” He whispered as he knew that had to be a terrifying experience for them. For once, he was glad Minako urged them to go to Tartarus the night previous. They probably won’t have to go for a while now. The rain poured down on Fuuka’s window as her eyes went from the ceiling towards Shinjiro. Her eyes were red and puffy. 

“Sh-Shinjiro…” She whispered as she felt even weaker than before. He tried to not show any emotions on his face—at least he was good with that. He carefully maneuvered Fuuka into his coat and button it up slowly. “…wh-what are you doing?”

Shinjiro pulled Fuuka into his arms, and turned towards everyone staring at him. “Either move it or lose it.” He glared as everyone created a path for him. He turned back to Mitsuru. “Let me take care of her. At least for a couple days. She’s terrified and if it happens again, I’ll be right there with her.” He stated as he began to walk out of Fuuka’s room, not realizing how sweaty and wet she was. His eyes glared at Minato for but a moment and then moved her down the stairs; he only stopped and turned towards everyone, but his eyes went to Minako. “No Tartarus for the next week. We need to see if she can summon her Persona after this. If not, then we are screwed. And, if you got to talk to her, you can talk to me first.”

And with that, Shinjiro walked down the stairs and towards his room, knowing it would be much cooler since he only had the bare necessities, plus a TV and an alarm clock. Everyone looked at one another as they were a bit silent. 

“Guys…” Junpei’s voice creeped out of his throat as he rubbed his arm. “What do we do now?”

Mitsuru crossed her arms and directed everyone’s attention to her. “Everyone: we will help them out. If they need food, then we will get them what they need.” She stated as she gripped her arms a bit tighter than normal. “And, I know I don’t say this much, but if someone isn’t acting like that should, please check on them. Yamagishi will need all of us to help her.”

She left to go to her room as everyone slowly disappeared and departed separately. Minato, Aigis, and Minako stayed upstairs on the third floor. Minako went over and closed Fuuka’s door as she turned to her brother. “…for all that is good, Minato, you were better when you didn’t show any emotions. Just hope that Fuuka gets better, for your own good.”

She left him with Aigis as she walked to her bedroom door and closed it, trying her hardest to not show any emotions in front of him. She was devastated that their strongest but weakest member was going to be out—and that means everyone else would be too. _Can’t navigate if you don’t have someone to guide you._ Minako flopped on her bed as she felt herself become exhausted just looking at Fuuka today. 

* * *

Shinjiro began to wonder if he took on one of the hardest tasks so far in his life. Once he got to his room, he made two mental notes: get a comforter for them both, and to wash his pea coat since Fuuka had her sweat covered in it. He made sure she was comfortable—then again, her face showed pure fear as her eyes seemed to bug out a bit. Shinjiro sat down on his bed as Fuuka felt herself pull the coat closer to her. He began to pull out some tissues from his coat pocket, as it seemed everyone wanted him to carry all sorts of things, as he began to clean the sweat and tears off her face. He noticed Fuuka felt warm, just the heat emanating off of her forehead was enough to make him worry, as he just tried to keep her calm and cool. 

Her breathing slowed down as she closed her eyes tightly, as she opened them slowly—she saw Shinjiro in front of her rather than Lucia trying to hurt her. She blinked again, making sure she wasn’t dreaming. Fuuka held her hand out and Shinjiro gripped it tightly. “If it hurts, squeeze my hand. I know you must be fucking terrified.” She nodded at his words as she opened her mouth, a big breath coming into her lungs before she spoke. 

“…is this…what death feels like?” 

Shinjiro gulped. He didn’t know she felt like that—Shinjiro normally felt fear and anxiety but afterwards, when he took the pills, he felt all of it washed away—but he couldn’t let her know about his own Persona issues. Not now. 

“Feeling as if another moment more, you’d be dead?” He slowly whispered as Fuuka nodded. It took her a few minutes to realize where she was. She didn’t raise a complaint; she was not getting a break this month. “…I don’t want to feel like that, again.” Her words were calm and more relaxed compared to how high her emotions were a bit ago. 

“Just rest, okay? You have to be exhausted.” Shinjiro stated as he put her hand down, to go grab blankets for tonight, as she reached for his arm quickly—she somehow had the energy to pull him back to him. “Hmm? What is it?”

“…d-don’t leave me.”

Shinjiro felt his cheeks heating up as he was somewhat thankful that the light post near his bedroom was slightly illuminating the room. He sighed and rubbed his temple with his free hand. “What are we going to do without sheets, Fuuka? I’ll be over there.” He pointed to his small closet. She watched him point and she nodded slowly. Shinjiro nodded back and moved his way towards the closet, relieved to see that they had a couple comforters and an extra pillow. 

He carried them over to the edge of the bed and dropped them carefully, making sure not to hit Fuuka’s feet. She quickly moved her feet, however, and kept them drawn into her chest. Her eyes have calmed down a bit, but she felt her anxiety hitting the roof so many times. Shinjiro could see her breathing in and letting it out slowly, noting that this wasn’t like her. Then again, it was her first time something like this has happened. When it happened to him, he was lucky to just have Strega nearby—and for once, he was relieved Fuuka didn’t have strangers near her when this happened. 

He sat down at her feet, not wanting to interrupt her deep breathing as he began to search for some clothes for Fuuka. Granted, they would all be his and be all too big, but she couldn’t be comfortable in those clothes that looked like she was drenched from some rain. “Fuuka,” he pulled some clothes out—slightly disappointed in himself that he only has tank tops and turtlenecks and turtle necks—and realized that he needs to pick out more types of shirts. 

_ No wonder every one thought I was sweating my damn ass off.  _

He straighten up and pulled out at least a turtle neck for her. He sniffed it, double checking to see if his clothing was cleaned, smelt like lavender, and had a small smile on his lips. “I, er, know you might be drenched in your clothes.” He stated as he turned around and moved back to Fuuka, realized that she has begun to breathe normally. “And I thought maybe you’d like to change into something more…drier.” He suggested as he gave her his turtle neck, wondering if even black would look good on her. 

Fuuka felt the shirt, not realizing how soft and comfortable it looked, as she turned her eyes to smell the shirt and then back to Shinjiro. “A-are you sure?” She asked softly, becoming meek again like she was months ago. “What if I ruin it?”

“I have a handful of those. It doesn’t matter. And besides, Mitsuru could help get me more.” 

“…” she looked back at the shirt, a bit tired and defeated as she felt herself becoming more worried again. “What if Lucia…”

“I’ll be here to help you.” 

“But what if—“

Shinjiro put a hand on her hand and gripped it tightly. “I’ll **be** here. You have nothing to worry about. Just take a couple days off and I’ll help you. Besides, you’ve helped me so it’s my turn to at least return the favor.” He mentioned as he saw her cheeks heating up a little. After a moment of reconsidering everything, she nodded as Shinjiro helped her off the bed slowly, reaching for his pea coat and tossed it to the floor. 

_ I need to wash everything after tonight.  _

He thought to himself as he held her arms and made sure she was stable for a few minutes. “I know you want privacy, so I’ll turn my body around as you put that on.” 

Fuuka nodded as she began to leisurely strip—she could feel herself panting in pure exhaustion. Shinjiro could hear her getting worn down. He’d be happy to help, but knew he had to give her some privacy. The next few days might be rough on them, especially for her. After what seemed like an eternity, Fuuka was clad in her panties and her bra. She still felt icky, as if a cold shower couldn’t help her relax and cool down. Fuuka pulled the turtle neck over, not realizing how bit of a height difference there was between her and Shinjiro. 

She sat down on the bed and let out a sigh, her hand moving to her chest as she got used to the idea of a turtle neck keeping her somewhat clad from halfway down to her knee and up. “I-I’m done.” She stated softly as she watched Shinjiro turn to face her, their eyes staring at each other for a moment. 

Shinjiro felt himself swallow unintentionally as he was slightly amused at how cute, beautiful, and wonderful she looked in his turtle neck. He shook his head and tried to down play her look as he reached for her clothes. “H-hopefully it will keep you warm tonight.”

_ Shit. Fuck. Dammit! I cannot play it cool around her! _

Fuuka let out a small giggle as he just haphazardly tossed her clothes to the side and he turned to face her. “It’s fine. I feel even tinier though.” Shinjiro nodded as he felt himself getting some beads of sweat running down his neck. 

_Stay cool. Don’t let her know about how attractive she looks right now._

“I…I need to get undressed—“

“Say no more.” She turned her body to the side and laid down, her back towards Shinjiro as he snuck a quick peek at her butt—relieved to see his clothes covered up her butt perfectly. Or not. 

Shinjiro knew he himself didn’t have a lot of night clothes. He remember telling himself he needed to and yet he only has shorts and his tank tops for himself. He sighed and stripped himself down to one of his few and favorite pairs of boxers. He threw on a tank top, one of two pairs of shorts, tossed his beanie onto his desk, and turned back to see Fuuka pulling a pillow inward. He leaned over her and saw her staring at the wall. “Are you ready to sleep?” Shinjiro asked slowly as she looked up at him and nodded. “Do you want me to sleep on—“

“Can you sleep with me?”

Her words threw him for a whirl. He wasn’t expecting her to actually say what he wasn’t trying to think while mildly aroused. He gulped and sat down on his bed, staring at her intently. “Are you sure?” A quick nod from Fuuka was enough. So, he made sure to get a comforter for her and him separately—granted the bed was small and two comforters could barely fit on it anyway. “I’ll sleep on one end—“

Fuuka shook her head. “Can’t you just sleep next to me?” She gripped her comforter a little tighter as she didn’t care who she was with. She just wanted to feel more protected tonight than any other night so far while being a member of SEES. “Please?”

Shinjiro felt a bit flustered as nothing could prepare him for this. But he was level headed, unlike some other guys he knew, and nodded slowly. “Would you like me to stay in my own sheets?” He knew about boundaries and how he didn’t want to trespass on them unless she was okay with it. 

“No.” She softly said as she sat up and looked at him with soft, puffy eyes. “We can just use one.” Fuuka said as she sounded exhausted even more than she looked. Shinjiro nodded slowly as she pushed his small comforter off the bed and made sure Fuuka was tucked in first and foremost. He could deal with getting little or no sheets tonight—she was more important. 

As he slid into the comforter with Fuuka, he felt something kick on in his head. Mitsuru nor Akihiko told him much about falling in love or what to do with a girl much less a teammate. He felt his protective nature click on. “Should I turn off the desk lamp?” He asked her as she nodded—luckily he had long enough limbs to reach for said lamp. “Do you want the TV on?” She shook her head as they were finally alone, in the dark. He didn’t know why, but once he settled down with her, he wrapped his arm around her stomach, pulling her inward, as if she needed his protection. Which was the case just for tonight at least. 

Fuuka felt herself being moved by Shinjiro’s one arm as she felt her breath getting caught in her throat. She moved her hand, instinctively, towards his and laid it on top. Fuuka didn’t know how to react to someone who was this caring, so strong in her eyes. Junpei gave off a playful nature, Minato gave off a silent and cool nature, and Shinjiro gave off a protective nature. Akihiko was someone whom she wasn’t so sure about, but this was something she was new to. And she didn’t mind at all. 

After the silence filled the air for an eternity, Fuuka turned to face Shinjiro, barely able to see his features on his face, and they both stared at each other. She didn’t know how to break the silence and neither did he. 

“…I take it Minato hates us.” Fuuka stayed softly as Shinjiro moved her head down and blinked a few times. “He hates me so much—I could feel anger being channeled in his thoughts.”

Shinjiro was surprised to know that Fuuka could sense emotions—perhaps thanks to Lucia—and he got worried if she was doing it the whole time while they were together. But, like he said to himself, he was going to play it cool. 

“If he does, oh well. You can’t just let one person ruin everything.” Shinjiro retorted. “What he said to you wasn’t very friendly. He will get his own karma coming back to him.”

Fuuka frowned, though he couldn’t see it, and looked at him. “You heard everything?”

“He yelled it in the dorm, Fuuka. Besides, it involved me. He’s a guy who said the wrong thing to you. And he’s going to realize he’s an ass for treating you like that. I know I’d treat someone, like you, better than _he_ could.”

Shinjiro froze up as he just let the words come out of his mouth, like word vomit. His eyes shifted left and right as he did speak the truth, but he didn’t know if that was being said too early while they had already develop small crushes on one another. 

_ Fuck. Okay, play it cool. Just try not to let her see you freaking out internally.  _

Fuuka felt her cheeks heating up. She was very appreciative of Shinjiro being honest. And she was surprised he said what he said—it made her fall a bit harder for him now. Hell, she was wearing his clothes so why not? And then the room filled with silence for a moment. 

“…really, Shinjiro-senpai?” She asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper, as she couldn’t see him shaking his head. 

“Yeah, I mean… listen, you aren’t gonna be some rebound girl or anything. And maybe he’ll realize what he lost out on. Even though I am to blame.”

Fuuka gulped and shook her head. “No, no. It’s my fault. I can’t let you take the fall for my stupidity.” She stated as she held a finger up to his lips, instead it was by his cheek since she couldn’t see in the dark. It took another try to find his lips. “Before you say anything, don’t. …” She didn’t know what to say—she was worried she might come off saying something she shouldn’t say. Fuuka had to think of something, anything, to say. “I enjoy your company—you actually listen to me and you being protective is very nice. It’s different compared to the others. And... ...given what our Personas have put us through the last couple weeks, I haven’t regretted any moment or time I’ve spent with you, Shinjiro-senpai.”

Shinjiro nodded slowly, unsure of what to really say now--if he said something wrong, he might ruin his chances and then Minako would probably kick his ass. Fuuka felt her cheeks heating up, relieved on how dark it was in the room. “B-because you are so quiet and never spoke up about anything. A-and I know you have your…demons and what not, but I’d still want to know you. Better.”

A small smile appeared on her lips as she felt herself relaxing more while being around Shinjiro. She didn’t know if the darkness was giving her more courage but she took what she could get. Slowly, she turned her body towards his and nuzzled her head into his chest. Fuuka didn’t know how to react while being in someone’s grasp, especially with a boy she liked. She thought she knew, but with Minato shunning her away like he did, she was a bit apprehensive on trying to get close to someone again. She then began to stop herself and pulled away from Shinjiro, noticing he wasn’t letting her get away easily. She looked up at him as she felt his warm hand landing on top of her head. 

“Just relax. No one will hurt you. It’s just us.”

_ It’s just us.  _

Fuuka heard his words repeat in her head, over and over, as if it was a lullaby. She lowered her head back down onto his chest and felt herself relaxing slowly in his arms. 

_ He is warm. And protective.  _

Within a few minutes, Fuuka fell into a deep sleep as Shinjiro could feel his eyes getting heavier as well. He kept his hand on top of her head, just for a little longer than normal, and felt a heavy sigh escape his lips. His chest exhaling towards him and just stared at Fuuka’s face for a moment. The idea of kissing her without her knowing made him feel mischievous, somewhat devilish, as it was something only he would know. His heart beat began to escalate as he was halfway to her face and began to move back—his feelings were conflicting him. 

Shinjiro’s breath caught in his throat as he felt Fuuka turning in his arms—he wondered if he was crazy enough to try something so bold in the first place. He waited a few more minutes and began to try again. He placed a small kiss on the top of her forehead—he moved instantly back, as if she was going to explode or wake up… …and _nothing_. 

_ She must be one hell of a sound sleeper.  _

That only made him feel even bolder. If he could go away with a forehead kiss—another thought plagued his mind: I’m not getting her consent for this. He knew, since he was little and more emphasized by Mitsuru when they were in middle school and the one year of high school, that you should always ask for a girl’s permission for anything. 

He cursed Mitsuru in his mind and began to pull away, keeping Fuuka close. He reached for the comforter more and made sure they were both covered up—he knew he would have to try again, if he had the courage to try again that is. Shinjiro let out another sigh and laid his head back on the pillow, petting Fuuka’s head and his fingers going through her hair until he fell asleep. 


	9. True Colors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this done for a while--I've been working on the next chapter for weeks because I am unsure of how to process from here until the end of Minako's S. Link with Shinjiro. But it should be up at the beginning of the next month. :)
> 
> Anyway, I wish I got this up sooner--work has been long and difficult with it being cold and snowing outside. Patience is a virtue and I need more of it. XD

_September 21st_

After a few days of Shinjiro being on her every day and night, which Fuuka didn't mind, she was a bit relieved when Shinjiro gave her the okay and she could sleep in her own room for once. Being in his arms was the easiest way for Fuuka to sleep—the idea of Lucia still hurting her terrified her a bit, but the memory felt like a dream. It plagued her mind once or twice a day, but nothing compared to the days before hand.

For now, she decided to get some fresh air and move herself towards the movie theater—only a hop, skip, and a jump away from the dorm and there was a sci-fi movie showing for free for students. After sitting through the movie and enjoying herself, she bumped into someone, on accident.

"I-I'm sorry-!" She gulped as she put her hands up and didn't realize she bumped into Minato and Junpei, her heart skipping a beat. "M-minato...Junpei...!"

Minato and Fuuka's eyes darted quickly from one another, as the tension between them grew once more. Junpei coughed as he laughed weakly, his arms moving around Fuuka and Minato's shoulders. "H-hey! What a coincidence, Fuuka! Did you see that awful sci-fi movie?"

Junpei tried to break the ice the best he could as Fuuka looked at Minato again—she noticed he looked a bit better, compared to the last few days. "...Minato..." Fuuka ignored Junpei for a moment and turned her attention back to Minato. "How are you feeling? I... ...you've been sick, right?"

Minato blinked as he didn't know that Fuuka knew he was sick. "Er, yeah. I didn't know you knew." Fuuka's eyes shot down, in worry, as he put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm better—I promise. Can't let Minako lead _all_ the time."

Junpei sighed, knowing this might've been a bad time to interrupt. "Sooooo, I'm just gonna...go to the bathroom..." He stated as he darted away from them both, leaving both of the blue-haired teenagers together as Fuuka and Minato tried to reach for him, but failed as the silence was deafening between them both again.

Minato gulped as he walked with Fuuka to another part of the theater where it was quiet—he wanted to make sure no one was nearby to interrupt him. "...Fuuka, listen:" He began as Fuuka turned her attention towards him, her eyes soften up on him, "I am sorry. For everything. I know I was an ass—I didn't mean to take it out on you." He mentioned as he held a finger up as Fuuka began to protest. "Let me finish, okay? … ...I fell hard for you—you saved us and you were shy, and I wanted to be able to save you to return the favor. And, well, I had a horrible attitude with being intimate with you. I didn't mean to lash out at you." He felt himself choking up on the last few words. "Especially after..." Minato shook his head as Fuuka put a hand to his shoulder and watched his eyes trail up to her eyes.

"...You are a teenager—you reacted correctly, though. ...I did love you, a lot. I was ready to give my whole body, my soul, to you, but my mind changed. ...and I messed up a perfectly normal relationship with you." Fuuka slowly said, her words aching as she poured her heart out to Minato. "...I'm sorry that I misused our relationship."

"Can I ask something?"

"...what is it?"

Minato took a deep breath and sighed deeply. "How long... ...how _quickly_ did Aragaki-senpai win you over? He's been here for just a few weeks and it took me months to be so intimate and close with you... he's accomplished so much in so little..."

Fuuka didn't realize it until Minato brought it up—it made her really think and realize how quickly Shinjiro won her heart. It took her a moment to respond as she closed her eyes. "I...I know this might sound silly and ridiculous, but I felt this... _connection_ with him. Maybe it was because we were both outcasts—we didn't belong but maybe because..." She opened her eyes slowly and her eyes turned soft and her lips formed a small smile. "...he didn't have his attention on much of anyone but me. I feel as if Lucia is to blame—the connection between her and Castor is scary, but amusing."

Minato knew a little about how Lucia has been able to keep Castor at bay, turning Shinjiro into a wrecking ball in Tartarus. "He **has** gotten stronger—you have amazing powers, Fuuka, if you are able to keep everyone focused...and _calm_."

She felt her cheeks heating up. "I'm sorry, but I do... ... _very much like_ Shinjiro—Aragaki-san, that is." Fuuka didn't want to use the word **love** just yet. "...but, I am terrified to know if he cares for me as much as I do for him." She explained, her eyes tilting to the ground as Junpei came out of the bathroom and his eyes darting to the entrance and peering through the doors. "I am scared to know his true feelings—if he hates me, loves me—he hasn't told me much. But," Fuuka turned her eyes towards Minato, a smile still on her lips, "I hope we are better, now? I can't let you get hurt, and I really care for you, as I do for Junpei, Yukari, Minako—everyone."

Minato smiled and nodded slowly. "I cared for you, hence why I lashed out at you." He cupped her hands and lowered his head. "As long as you have my back, I'll take care of you in return." He raised his head slowly and smiled weakly. "Truce?"

"Truce." Fuuka grinned as Junpei came dashing back as he began to pull Fuuka to the doors. "Huh? What is it Junpei?"

"Y-you might want to see this, Fuu-tan."

"The last time you did this, you said the clouds look like Koromaru-" Fuuka stopped suddenly as she saw Minako and Shinjiro outside, over by the flower shop. Her heart dropped as she bit her lip—she stared at them as Minato caught up with the Capricorns and tilted his head. Minato turned his eyes towards Fuuka as she gripped the handles and bit his lip.

_If Aragaki-senpai hurts you, Fuuka, I'll be sure he regrets it. I'll protect you if he cannot._

* * *

Minako's arm was wrapped around Shinjiro's, playfully, as they looked at the flowers and felt her lips forming a small smile. "Finally, we got some time together—it seems like Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai always want your attention." She stated as she sniffed her nose, smelling the aroma of the flowers surrounding her.

"I brought you here to help me, you know." Shinjiro pointed out as he leaned over lilacs and roses.

"Yes, yes, I know. And to help you get flowers for Fuuuuuuka~"

Shinjiro felt his cheeks heating up as he grabbed Minako's arm and placed it at her side. "Don't push your free lunch with me, Minako."

Minako grinned. "No promises—besides, you were going to make some ramen for all of us tonight—so I win no matter what. Can Fuuka help out? I know she's gotten better, so maybe she has the energy?"

Shinjiro turned back to face her as he crossed his arms. "I'm going to focus on the dinner tonight. She may look better, but she hasn't spoken much to me today. Maybe I said something wrong?" He leaned over and looked at gladiolus and lilies.

"Is that why you asked me to come along and find you flowers? You know, chocolate is also a _great_ way to a girl's heart."

He shot her a small glare. "That's for White Day, Minako."

"Ahhh. Gotcha." She nodded slowly. "...have you told Fuuka?"

"Told her... _what_?" He asked as he reached for some lilacs and gladiolus, checking the stems and leaves and what not. "They don't sell lavender?" He murmured softly as he went towards the owner to pay for them and decorate them.

"...you haven't told her you _liked_ her or even _love_ her?" Minako asked as Shinjiro almost dropped his money to pay for said flowers. He began to become flustered as Fuuka looked on from far away, her heart pounding in her ears. She could see him getting flustered and saw him yelling, or getting frustrated, at Minako.

"Sh-she hasn't said the same thing to me! Besides," he pocketed the money and turned back to Minako, his cheeks a brighter red than before, "she probably hates me-"

"Oh, Shinjiro—you both are such idiots."

"Excuse me?"

Minako laughed as she watched him holding the vase close to his chest—glass vase with a beautiful purple ribbon that was formed into a bow. "You both love each other so much that neither one of you will profess your feelings!" She put her hands on her hips. "Why don't you tell her with these flowers? You _know_ how much she loves flowers-"

"Because I brought her to her room and smelt the damn flowers, Minako-"

"-but, you could have been generic and got her chocolates, or tea. You, senpai, chose flowers, because it appealed to her easier. Why don't you tell her how you feel?"

Shinjiro placed the vase down on a nearby table, next to some empty vases and pulled Minako close to whisper into her ear something Fuuka couldn't see or hear. From her view point, with Shinjiro's back to her, it looked as if they hugged, or worse... _kissed_.

* * *

Fuuka felt her heart breaking as Junpei could see Minato's fists turning white at the knuckles. Fuuka reached for Minato's hand as she stared at him. "...don't. It might be a misunderstanding..." She whispered weakly as she closed her eyes, trying to blink away her tears.

Shinjiro closed his eyes and whispered into Minako's ear: "If she finds out that I am taking suppressants, and she knows that I'll be dead in the future, it will crush her. I don't want that personal connection..."

Minako's eyes grew as she covered her lips, moving away from Shinjiro. She didn't know what exactly his demons were, and if she was the first to know—

"You **have** to tell her, Shinjiro!" Minako exclaimed as he shook his head, reaching for the flower vase and held it close to his chest. "Why not? Fuuka has the right to know, if she's helping you out!"

He sighed as he felt his eyes roll into his head. "You heard me, Minako-you cannot tell her. I... ...I'll have to tell her, eventually." He felt his chest sink as he didn't know what to say, what to do. Shinjiro truly thought the flowers would be simply okay—Fuuka seemed like a simple girl with simple tastes—anyone can get behind a girl like her.

Junpei turned to Minato and Fuuka as she lowered her hand to her side. "Umm, Minato? I think we should go..." He suggested as he pulled Minato with him. "Are you going to be okay?" He turned to Fuuka as she felt herself leaving the theater—Minato began to reach for her as she walked outside and felt herself moving towards Minako and Shinjiro. "Oh, this _can't_ be good." Junpei stated as he kept his hand on Minato's shoulder.

"Let me go-"

"Let's wait—if it gets bad, we'll go and get her, okay?"

Fuuka felt herself dashing towards Shinjiro and Minako as she turned her attention to Fuuka and gasped. "Fuuka-chan...!"

Shinjiro turned quickly as he saw Fuuka's eyes shooting up and down at him—the flowers smelling amazingly and slightly deter her thoughts for a moment, as she felt her lips quiver. "...d-d...did..." She didn't know what to say—she felt her legs moving and now that she was in front of him, she was speechless.

"Fuuka-...I, er, got these, for you!" Shinjiro blurted, his cheeks heating up again as he thrusted the flowers carefully into her hands—she gripped them tightly as she looked down at the flowers. "I-it's for everything you've done for me."

_Why the fuck am I stuttering?!_

"Shinjiro..." She felt her own cheeks heating up as Minako began to back away slowly from them as she thought she might be over extending her welcome.

"I think I'll just leave you two here-"

"Don't go!"

Fuuka and Shinjiro blurted out as they looked up at each other, their eyes locked on one another as Fuuka used one of her free hands to cover her lips as Shinjiro rubbed the back of his head. Minako moved back towards them and nodded. "Oh...o _kay_..." Minako slowly said as she wasn't sure what to do. "We can't stay here forever—also, I _do_ have a life to get back to."

"Th-then I'll go-"

"-no, I'll go..."

Fuuka and Shinjiro eyed each other again as Minako face palmed and grabbed Fuuka's vase and looked at them both. "Listen--everyone and their mother and brother know how much you guys like each other—" Minako mentioned as she saw Minato and Junpei leaving the theater (she wondered if they knew?) as she kept her eyes on the two love birds in front of her. "—and I do not want to hear any complaints."

Shinjiro began to open his mouth and then closed it as he moved his beanie to cover some of his cheeks.

"Now, I'll take these lovely flowers back to the dorm and I'll leave you two alone." Minako grinned as Fuuka felt her breath getting caught in her throat. "And you guys better go out and get some time together—"

"But, we spent three days together, Minako-chan—" Fuuka protested as Shinjiro shook his head furiously.

"-and you both _still_ didn't say anything to each other! How?!" Minako exclaimed as they both looked down at their feet as Shinjiro kicked a pebble away from their area. "You both cannot leave until you say you like each other—and I'll be sure to tell Mitsuru-senpai why we are late and why dinner wasn't cooked!"

Fuuka opened her mouth as Shinjiro began to protest. "Hey-that's not fair!"

"Oh? It's not?" Minako stated as she put the vase down, hoping she didn't drop any water outside of the vase, and turned to Shinjiro and Fuuka with her feet angled towards Shinjiro. "I can do one thing that will expedite this—and I do not mean any evil will towards it."

Within a few seconds, Minako wrapped her arms around Shinjiro's waist and leaned up towards him. Fuuka felt her cheeks heating up as Shinjiro's were already as red as a tomato. Fuuka felt her lips trembling with anger as she was anxious and could see Minako leaning towards Shinjiro's lips. Shinjiro was speechless—he didn't know how to react since no one was ballsy enough to try something like this.

_Shinjiro… SAY something!_ Fuuka thought as she felt her hand shaking with anger, sadness, possibly frustration. _Why isn't he saying anything!?_

"D-don't-!"

"Don't what?"

"Get off of him!" Fuuka cried out as she felt her fists trembling and reaching for Shinjiro's arm. The little energy she put out made Minako remove herself as Fuuka had the strength to pull Shinjiro towards her as she felt her cheeks heating up. She covered her lips with one of her hands as Minako and Shinjiro stared at Fuuka in awe, and a bit surprised. After the anger swept over her quickly, Fuuka felt herself getting overwhelmed as she began to apologize to Minako and Shinjiro as Minako felt a small smile appear on her lips.

"...and we can head on home."

Minako picked up the vase and began her trek back to the dorm. Fuuka still had her arm around Shinjiro's own as Shinjiro stared at Fuuka in a stunned silence.

_...holy **shit.** I was _not _expecting that._

Fuuka felt her hand shooting up to her chest to calm her heart and anxiety down. "I-I... I don't know what came over me..." She whispered as she wondered if Lucia jumped in—was she truly jealous? Or was Fuuka herself jealous?

Shinjiro noticed that Fuuka didn't remove her arm from his—he didn't know if he should say something, but something deep inside of him pulled him closer to Fuuka. A small noise left Fuuka's lips as she looked up at him. "Are you... ...did you... …?" Shinjiro was a bit speechless as he didn't even know what to say or how to say it.

_That was slightly amusing, and yet... oddly ...heart-warming?_

"Shinjiro-"

"Do you like me?" Shinjiro asked as Fuuka looked up at him as she felt her lip trembling a little in fear of what to say. Fuuka's anxiety went through the roof as she took a couple deep breaths and gulped.

"...do you want my honest answer?"

Shinjiro nodded as she removed herself from him and stood in front of him, her heart pounding in her ears and her heart in her throat. "I...I do." She whispered softly as she lowered her head, hiding her red cheeks. "...i-it's weird, you know, how I feel as if I have fallen...for _you_."

Her words were slow and short, but to the point as Shinjiro stared at her. He didn't know what to say to her as he was a bit speechless.

"What about you? D-do you ...like me?"

_Of course, she would ask._

Shinjiro began to move his hand towards her face, cupping her cheek and moving her face upwards and lowered his eyes gentle on hers. "After what you've done for me, how could I not? I'm not sure why, but I like you as well, Fuuka. So, the answer is yes." He concluded, wondering how long he was going to babble for. Fuuka could feel her brain ready to implode—she felt that she might be getting ahead of herself.

For some reason, Fuuka took Shinjiro's hand on her cheek and removed it, holding it in her hands. "I... I am glad that you like me as well, but..." She never realized how small her fingers were in his hand-it made her feel a bit small and tinier than before. "...are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

He blinked his eyes a few times, surprised those words left her mouth. Shinjiro thought that it would make Fuuka feel better—did it make her feel worse? He shook his head. "Of course not! Just being near you calms me down—and before you say anything, it isn't _just_ your Persona that's helping." He quickly stated before Fuuka would interrupt. "You aren't loud, and you make mistakes and own up to them. You are calm and it's relaxing, compared to Aki and Minako. There is so much I want to say to you-"

"...but?"

Shinjiro hesitated—what Minako was speaking to him earlier rung in his ears and shook his brain up. "-but I cannot. Not now. I know what I want to tell you, but it's too soon."

Fuuka gulped, feeling herself get a bit hurt over the fact that Minako knows something she doesn't know. But, she knew that she couldn't rush him or this _relationship_ of theirs. It terrified her to know that he might have a hidden secret, so she had to earn his trust—much easier said than done.

"I understand. I want to tell you something as well, but maybe another time, too." Fuuka smiled weakly as she didn't want to tell him about her parents—at least not yet. She knew his parents were long gone—bringing up hers would be possibly gloating, or worse. "But, promise we can get some alone time, again? Soon that is."

"I don't see why we can't. I'm sure Koromaru would need a walk or some food—I'll take you along next time?" He suggested, wondering if this was okay, to simply ask a girl out on a date—wait.

_Is THAT a date? We would be alone, but Koromaru would be there, so technically no? What the fuck would we talk about?_ _**We are Persona users and our Personas crave each other's attentions?** _ _...that didn't sound right at all._

Shinjiro thought to himself as Fuuka began to wave her hand in front of his face, wondering if he was off in la-la land. "Senpai?" She called out as Shinjiro blinked, making Fuuka release his hand as he felt himself getting flustered. "Don't think too hard, okay? We already have Junpei-kun doing all the work with thinking right?"

"...Don't get me started on Iori, Fuuka."

* * *

**October 25** **th**

Mitsuru felt her body collapse onto the couch near Fuuka's bed as the doctor explained to her that Fuuka had a couple irregular heartbeats—which she didn't tell anyone, especially Shinjiro—and a small chest infection. All in just a few days from each other, and it made Mitsuru a wreck. On top of all of this, she was becoming a navigator all over again. Everyone had to go on the lower floors and could never explore much at one time. Losing Mitsuru as a fighter wasn't as bad as losing Fuuka as a navigator. Shinjiro brought his all, as well as the others, as the leaders would switch every half an hour.

She looked over the clipboard, seeing that Fuuka's ventilator was taken away yesterday and her catheter now gone—only things showing that she was a patient was IV fluids hung beside her, a blood pack, and nothing else. Mitsuru was relieved that Fuuka wasn't giving up her fight, but now she was just waiting for Fuuka to simply wake up—her eyes darted back to the fragile girl in the bed, but she still wasn't awake.

The door opened slowly as Yukari and Junpei entered quietly. The music from the TV was low and drowned the noise of the monitors. "Takeba, Iori—good to see you both." Mitsuru stated as Junpei nodded and turned his attention to Fuuka.

"H-hey—she's lost the ventilator and that heart monitor machine!" Junpei spoke up as a smile appeared on his cheeks—Yukari reached for something in her purse—and turned to Mitsuru. "Will she wake up soon?"

Mitsuru got up from her spot on the make shift bed on the couch and shook her head. "She is ready to wake up—it's just... _the waiting_ that is bothering me. She's ready to leave once she awakes. The doctors aren't sure why she's not waking up—Yamagishi did have a minor infection a couple days ago, but she's been given blood and antibiotics. As well as irregular heartbeats, but that is normal for when you undergo heart surgery."

Yukari pulled her hair brush out and began to brush Fuuka's hair, noticing it had grown a little bit, as she tried to make her look presentable. "I see. But, maybe she's scared? I-I don't know if the mind would know if she _is_ scared." She pointed out as she kept her eyes on Fuuka's face. "It's been almost a month and the Full Moon is coming up. Maybe it's a sign?"

Mitsuru raised an eyebrow. "A sign?"

Yukari felt her eyes drop to Fuuka's chest, wondering how big of a scar she would have and if she'd be scared to even see it herself. "Maybe we shouldn't go after the next Full Moon shadow? If Fuuka isn't back, then we aren't able to take the shadow down efficently." She whispered as she put her hands up quickly. "N-Not that you are bad, Mitsuru-senpai. But, I can see the stress in your face from pulling double duty here, at school, and in Tartarus."

"It's that obvious?"

"A bit."

"Junpei!" Yukari cried out as she wacked his head with her brush. "Don't be so obvious about the obvious!"

"But she was asking!" He exclaimed as he sat down on the chair next to Fuuka's bed. "...I hate this waiting..." He whispered as Mitsuru nodded and saw Yukari sitting next to him as she put her brush away.

"I know. We all do."

They turned their attention to the person in the doorway who knocked, as Mitsuru rubbed her forehead. "Shinjiro, you could just walk in. No need to knock."

He shrugged as he looked over Fuuka's body—noticing some machines were gone and monitors were being replaced with open space—he turned his attention quickly to Mitsuru. "So, no idea when she'll wake up?" Mitsuru shook her head as Shinjiro felt his shoulders sink a little inwards.

Carefully, he walked to the make shift couch bed and ran his fingers through his hair, removing his beanie and gripping it tightly. Shinjiro felt defeated, unsure of what to do anymore. He began to shut the others off from his mind and began to focus on Fuuka.

_If she doesn't wake up soon, we can't fight the next Full Moon Shadow. But, if we don't, won't chaos or hell or something happen to us? I wish I could just get a damn sign from her knowing that she'll wake—the machines are gone, she has blood and fluids transfusing to her, so why-_

He felt his face getting wet, suddenly, as he shook his head and lowered his head. Shinjiro couldn't cry—not now, until Fuuka was awake and those tears would be happy ones, not sad ones. Suddenly, he stood up and turned to Mitsuru. He had an idea, but it was a stretch. He knew once he mentioned this idea, he might be treated like he had two heads with how ridiculous it will sound.

"Mitsuru, could I suggest something?"

Junpei, Yukari, and Mitsuru turned towards Shinjiro, a bit surprised that he spoke up out of the blue after he was silent. Mitsuru was still calm and collected as she crossed her arms. "What is it?"

"This is a stretch, but could it be possible we get Fuuka's outfit and evoker ready by the full moon coming up?" Shinjiro suggested, knowing it sounded impossible and undoable.

Yukari raised an eyebrow as Mitsuru walked towards Shinjiro. "...You think she's going to wake up when the final shadow appears?" Shinjiro nodded slowly. "It is a stretch, but I am sure we can give it a shot. However, we have an issue—how would she be able to get to our position from here? She would also need to be given the okay to leave. Everyone will be transmogrified and it could cause some problems after the Dark Hour is over." Mitsuru explained as she sat with the idea for a moment, the gears in her head turning slowly and surely.

"So," Junpei crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair, "someone would bring her clothes and her evoker, wait for her to wake up, and then she'll walk all the way to where the shadow is?"

Mitsuru turned her head towards Junpei. "She'd be too weak—even if she _does_ wake up, then she would need someone to be with her."

"I'll do it." Shinjiro stated as he got up and moved towards the end of Fuuka's bed. "...I've seen her weak and vulnerable—I know you might want a female here with her, Mitsuru, but I know she'll trust me." He explained as his mind was running full gear. "I can easily carry her—I'll stay with her from the beginning to the end of the Dark Hour," he turned his head towards Mitsuru, determination in his eyes, "and she'll be able to support us."

Junpei snapped his fingers. "You'll guard her while we battle—"

"For once, Iori is right—" Shinjiro quickly mentioned as Junpei retorted.

"HEY!"

"Shinjiro," Mitsuru placed a hand on his shoulder, "that is very courageous and bold of you, but we would be down a fighter and we will lose time to take down the shadow. …" She stopped speaking and held up a finger to her lips as she blinked and her eyes grew. "You want us to get a head start." Shinjiro nodded slowly.

"At least _attempt_ to take down the shadow until I get Fuuka there." Shinjiro added as Mitsuru removed her hand from his shoulder and began to pace around, thinking about this. Shinjiro feared he might be thinking too much about the situation—what if Fuuka _didn't_ wake up? After a few minutes of silence, Mitsuru turned back to Shinjiro and nodded.

"This is a good, solid plan. We will be losing you as a fighter, but if it gets Yamagishi back to us and you as well, then we will be sure to take down this shadow definitely." Mitsuru assured as she turned to the other second years in the room. "You two will need to tell our leaders this plan—Aragaki and I will fill in the gaps if they are lost." She turned to Shinjiro and gave him a weak smile. "You will have to fight minor shadows on your way to us—will that be okay?"

Shinjiro nodded. "Well, duh. I'm fine with that. Fuuka will guide me to you guys, so we will be good." He stated surely, his eyes trailed back to Fuuka as he felt his eyes stop at her face. A bit pale from no sunlight, but she still looked the same most of the time—simply beautiful.

Mitsuru kept an eye trained on Shinjiro as she looked back at Yukari and Junpei. "When you both leave, please relay the message to our leaders and tell them to talk to me in a couple days."

"What about Aigis?" Yukari threw her name out of the blue as everyone turned towards her. "I mean, she's faster than all of us, and she could possibly be a better option to get Fuuka?" Yukari knew Shinjiro would be throwing eye daggers at her when she brought this up.

Mitsuru let the idea run through her head for a minute. "I can see why you think Aigis would be better—Shinjiro would give us more power and, as much as I know you'd like to see Yamagishi wake up," she placed a hand on Shinjiro's shoulder slowly, "getting her to us will be quicker with Aigis. Besides, we might be meeting with Strega again."

Shinjiro felt his eyes soften as he felt a bit defeated. He knew he wouldn't be able to win if Mitsuru was given a better idea. But, he sighed heavily and nodded in agreement. "I owe them a good punch or two in the face." He uttered as he turned towards Fuuka, his attention going towards her for a moment. Shinjiro knew he had to get back at Takaya for what he did to Fuuka. He was angry and pissed, but kept his cool and turned his attention back to the others.

"I'll be sure to get her stuff here for her." Mitsuru mentioned. "I'll let Aigis know as soon as I see her." After waving away the juniors, Mitsuru slowly turned back to Shinjiro. For once, they were alone and the tension felt heavy between them. The idea of Shinjiro actually determined to protect others compared to where he was years ago had changed him to be a better person.

She began to say something, but stopped herself. Mitsuru carried her heavy body towards Shinjiro and sighed heavily. They looked out the window for a few seconds together as she turned herself clockwise towards Shinjiro. "You do know once she wakes up, she will have to come back to the hospital. Just for check ups." She stated slowly as Shinjiro kept his eyes towards the window. "I hope you will stay with her until the end."

Mitsuru began to walk past Fuuka's bed as Shinjiro turned his head slightly towards the red-head and nodded. "I hope she does the same for me."


	10. The Past Always Hurts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could have SWORN I did post this! I apologize for this being so late when it was already done for months! I am still working on the next chapter since I am hoping to relieve some sexual tension between these two very soon. Also, I had to create some of Fuuka's past with some help from a friend of mine (Goryuck), as well as creating Shinjiro's past with Miki's death and how they met up again. I hope it was sufficient and satisfying. :)

**Chapter 10 :: The Past Always Hurts**

**_September 24th_ **

*bark bark* *bark bark*

"It sounds like Koromaru needs to go to the bathroom." Aigis turned her eyes towards the dog who was waggling his tail and spinning in circles. Everyone, minus Mitsuru and Akihiko, was downstairs watching some new TV special and to check up on the weather for the upcoming week. And to check in with the daily apathy syndrome cases since the number changes regularly.

"Or he is just hungry—wasn't senpai suppose to get him some food made?" Junpei pipped up with a response as Shinjiro walked through the kitchen, holding a food bowl. "See? I guess I was right."

Koromaru whined as he noticed his food bowl was empty. He seemed a bit disheartened as he sat in front of Shinjiro, wondering if he was going to make him some food. Shinjiro frowned and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but you're out of food. I got to go out and get some. Any volunteers?" Shinjiro turned his attention to the juniors, and Ken, in the room as no one seemed to want to help him. He crossed his arms as Minako looked around the room and felt a devilish grin on her lips. She, luckily, was sitting next to Fuuka and began to reach for her arm quietly.

Fuuka turned her eyes towards her right and began to close her book as Minako reached for her arm. Fuuka knew what Minako was trying to do, which she has been trying to get her and Shinjiro together to do some tasks. She did admire her determination, but it was starting to get a bit annoying. Fuuka felt she was smart enough to attempt to try going on a date, or an outing as friends, but she didn't have the courage to ask him out. So maybe Minako was doing her a favor? Then again, she was so rambunctious. With the air between her and Minato was cleared, Fuuka felt as if everything was going to be good. Except, Minako wanted to make sure everyone was happy, especially Shinjiro.

Fuuka felt Minako's hand not moving towards her arm, but towards her side. She gasped as she couldn't whack away Minako's hand quick enough as she felt herself let out a loud wheeze and then a small laugh soon after escaping her lips. Everyone watched her contour the upper half of her body frontwards as Minako's hand was tickling her right side. She stood straight up as she felt her laughter trickle down into a sigh as Minako turned her attention towards Shinjiro. "She volunteers as tribute, senpai!"

"Th-that's not fair! You tickled me!" Fuuka cried out as Minato and Junpei tried to stifle a laugh as she turned swiftly on them and their smiles diminished in a blink of an eye. She felt her cheeks heating up with embarrassment as she eyed Shinjiro. "Since no one else wants to go, I'll go with you."

"Are you sure? I know someone—" he glared at Minako as she just waved happily at him, showing she wasn't fazed by him, "—forced you to go but the stuff is heavy."

"Then, how about I take Koro-chan with us?" Fuuka suggested as Koromaru yipped happily as she flashed a small smile at him. "See? Koro-chan likes that. And it'll kill two birds with one stone."

Fuuka knows how efficient Shinjiro likes to be, so maybe this would show him how she thinks on her toes? Shinjiro knew he wouldn't say **no** to Koromaru or Fuuka, so he simply nodded. "At least get his leash and I'll meet you outside." Shinjiro walked towards the door as Fuuka began to reach for Koromaru's leash. She felt her heart jump as Minako move towards her and sat down with Koromaru on the ground.

"I knew it would work!"

"Minako-chan, how has Shinjiro-senpai not gotten back at you? You are immune to everything he says or does to you." Fuuka stated as she latched the leash on the calm and collected Koromaru as Minako grinned.

"Because he knows that I'm dating Akihiko and he has to treat me good. Er, well sort of. He knows I'm strong willed and won't be able to stop me easily."

Fuuka gave her a look of "you have GOT to be kidding me" and shook her head. "I don't know why you have it in for Shinjiro-senpai and I. He sounds like a loner and doesn't feel like bothering with…" Fuuka got up from her spot and her thoughts crossed her mind. The times where Lucia calmed Castor down, and the time her persona went berserk—she wondered if it was because of their Personas that they united quickly. No one else's Persona called out for Fuuka and/or Lucia. Only Castor and she began to wonder if maybe there was some history?

_Like, maybe she knew Castor and Polydeuces because Castor was mortal and Polydeuces was immortal?_

She shook her head, knowing she was over thinking this. She stood up slowly and walked towards the door with Koromaru in tow. "At least a walk will be good for us." Fuuka pointed out to Koromaru as he barked happily and they left the dorm, relieved to see that Shinjiro had not left them behind.

* * *

Fortunately for Koromaru, and Shinjiro, they only had one bag of dog food left. But, since it was enough for a couple weeks, Shinjiro would have to go back after the full moon boss and get some more for Koromaru. To end their night, Fuuka suggested that they go to the shrine and let Koromaru loose. Then again, it was the one place Koromaru loved to go to besides the dorm. Surprised to see the shrine empty before the sunset, Fuuka took a seat on the bench near the sandbox. She let out a heavy sigh as Shinjiro unleashed Koromaru and joined her at the bench.

 _Gosh, you can cut the silence with a knife._ Fuuka thought to herself as she kept her eyes to her hands in her lap, not knowing Shinjiro was itching closer to her. He had no clue why he was moving towards the smallest girl in SEES; suddenly, he moved away and felt his cheeks heating up. Fuuka sensed his weight change on the bench as she turned towards him, her head tilting.

"Too cold to sit?"

"Not really—er, just thought you wanted some room. Away from me or something." Shinjiro retorted as Fuuka felt her a small smile appear on her lips and turned to face straight ahead.

"If you are sure, Shinjiro."

He began to protest, but then grumbled some words and moved back next to Fuuka. She chuckled softly as she crossed her ankles and looked down at her crossed legs. "I know we haven't talk much, outside the dorm and out of Tartarus, but…" Fuuka closed her eyes, trying to organize her thoughts. "…Minako-chan is itching to get us…"

_To talk? To date? To kiss? She wants us to do everything it seems._

"…to convey our feelings to each other?" Her words out like vomit, knowing that might make things a bit more awkward than before. "I-I know you have your secrets and I feel I shouldn't pry. But, could I at least let you know about me? The only people who know about my past is Mitsuru-senpai and Ikutsuki-San."

Shinjiro raised an eyebrow, wondering how secretive Fuuka really could be. "Minako has her reasons as to why she'd want us…to, uhh, 'hang out' but I'd like to know more about you. If you don't mind telling me. I feel privileged to be the third person to know about your past."

Fuuka wondered if he was mocking her, but decided to play devils advocate with him and humor him. She watched Koromaru lay next to her feet as she felt herself sigh softly. "Then again, it's a snore fest. But, I'll condense my life down for you in a few minutes." She moved herself a bit closer to Shinjiro so that Koromaru was more comfortable on the ground than on her feet.

"I am an only child of parents who are alive, and are both in the medical profession. I have been in and out of hospitals since I was little. We lived in a beautiful town about 2 hours from here that was near a lake. My parents couldn't figure out what would make me sick every other month. So, they decided to move to Iwatodai and see if I would get better." Fuuka sighed as she leaned her head back on the bench. "It took me until moving here that I'll be sick, no matter what. That it wasn't the atmosphere poisoning me, but my parents. They made sure I studied until I passed out."

Shinjiro turned his body towards Fuuka, a bit intrigued. "I was always top 5 in my classes, but it never seemed to be good enough for them unless I was top 3 or the top of my class. And I was so stressed out I didn't realize how bad I was losing my focus on the world. When Natsuki-chan and her friends bullied me, it was weird, but it made me realize how tiny I felt. I know they were jealous of me—but," she turned her attention towards Shinjiro, and flashed him a small smile, "if you wasn't there when Yukari, Junpei, or Minako was trying to find information about me, then I probably wouldn't awake to Lucia or I could be dead—I-I wouldn't know what would happen, to be honest." She felt herself getting flustered over Shinjiro saving her, again, unknowingly. Fuuka bit her lip and shook her head, lowering her head and scratching her cheek.

"And when Mitsuru-senpai offered me a place in the dorm, I jumped on it. Yukari-chan has no clue why I jumped on it, but to be freed from my mother and father—to be able to think and feel for myself—was a blessing in disguise."

"I've never known what it was like to have a mother or father." Shinjiro's words cut the air like a knife as Fuuka stared at him, surprised something like that came out of his mouth. "I don't think you or many others know, but Aki and I were friends in a nearby orphanage. I can barely recall my parents and what they look like." He began with as he felt himself leaning back into the bench.

"We were there for a couple years—Aki and Miki, Ali's sister, were never easy to split from another. Granted, I was the same with them. But, one spring day, there was a fire. I found out from Mitsuru, years later, it was an electrical fire—the damn orphanage was perfect and yet, it caused Akihiko to lose a sister."

Fuuka covered her lips, her eyes grew as she felt her heart drop. "Did they find…"

"Her body? I…" Shinjiro looked up at the sky and had a sullen look on his face. "We assumed she was ashes. After that, I think we were ushered off to another orphanage—Aki barely spoke a word for months. He eventually moved out of the orphanage and into the middle school dorms once he could. I know that's how he met Mitsuru. Me, on the other hand, left as soon I could and been living on the streets since."

Fuuka rubbed her arm and felt a bit embarrassed about the topic of bring up her parents. She felt herself feeling bad for Shinjiro. But knew he probably didn't want to feel bad for himself. It's Shinjiro anyway.

"So, how did you get into SEES?" Fuuka cautiously asked and lowered her eyes, and then watched as Shinjiro got up and he put his hands in his pockets.

"…I remember Aki coming up to me, and he said that this Mitsuru Kirijo person pulled him off to the side before practice and he had the potential. He said he wouldn't join unless I lived in the dorm." He looked up at the sky, his shoulders sinking inward, and shook his head. "I didn't want to join. I didn't want any pity. Until that night:"

Shinjiro turned towards Fuuka, their eyes interlocking as she felt her heart pounding in her ears. "I awoke to my Persona. I wasn't sure why or how it happened—just that I remembered Castor made me shiver with cold chills running down my arms. I thought I was cursed. But, I joined the next day, enrolled in middle school, and that was that." His gazes shot off to the side. "…I left in my first year of high school. I had to. I hurt someone in the process. And I couldn't live with the guilt." He partially lied. There was no way she needed to know. Not yet. Maybe never.

"I see." Fuuka stated softly, as she stood up in front of him. "I wish I met you sooner, then."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why? It could have been you who was injured."

"Because then we would not have been alone." Shinjiro stared at her, blinking a few times. "Think about: Kirijo-senpai and Sanada-senpai have each other, as well as Ken-kun and Koromaru, the twins and Aigis, and Yukari and Junpei. And that leaves us, you know? So, maybe that's why I feel connected to you." Fuuka mentioned outloud, her cheeks stained pink. "If I moved here sooner, then maybe I could have joined SEES quicker and I could have saved—"

"Don't finish that sentence."

Fuuka felt Shinjiro's hands on her shoulders as he closed his eyes and opened them slowly. He didn't meant to frighten her. "You could not have saved me from my doom."

_Fuck. If I tell her about Ken's mother, then it leads to the suppressants, and then everything would go downhill and she wouldn't look at me the same._

"Shinjiro…" Fuuka's voice becoming more softer. She gripped his arm carefully and tenderly. Koromaru whined softly as he began to stand beside the two figures as he looked upward. The gears in Fuuka's head turning as she asked carefully, "why does your Persona go berserk? And…how have you been able to control him until—?"

Shinjiro felt himself sweating bullets mentally and physically. He was starting to wonder why the girl who envied him had to be smart and cunning. So, he did one of the things that Minako told him to do if you wanted to silence a female in the nicest way possible: compliment her, which is what Shinjiro did not do. He simply raised his voice at her.

"You don't need to know that, Fuuka! Why are you so damn curious about my life?"

Fuuka's eyes grew as Shinjiro never raised her voice at her—he almost coddled her a little. So, she felt as if she had to be defensive herself and began to raise her voice too.

"Excuse me!? Because it seems that everything that happens to you, you never tell me! And why am I always the last to know?"

"Why do you want to know about my Persona?"

"Because I am the navigator of the group and I need to know how everyone is!"

"If you want," he used his height to lean over Fuuka, towering over her, "I could just show you the power of Castor going truly berserk." His height loomed over her and his voice was as low as a lion's roar—Fuuka felt herself cowering in fear as she could feel tears ready to sting her eyes. Fuuka cared so much about everyone, including Shinjiro, and yet he was putting up a huge wall over himself. "You know, I never ask about what you are up to on a daily basis. So why should I give a damn what you do!? I'm never curious about it!" Shinjiro's yelling got a bit louder with anger crawling into his words.

She felt herself biting her bottom lip as she tried not to show how she felt weak again. It took Shinjiro a few seconds to process what he said to her and just how nasty it sounded. Her eyes began widening, her lips trembling as her tears fell to the ground and harshly clashed against her cheeks.

"F-Fuuka, wait—I didn't—"

Fuuka barely mustered enough strength to put all of her weight into her foot to slam it down on Shinjiro's foot. He never experienced a pain quite like that—and he wasn't expecting that type of pain to hurt him so much. But Fuuka's pained face was something that tore at his heart.

"F-fine. Keep your secrets." Her voice squeaking as she felt her voice leaving her body, as she kept her head down and her hands gripping her shirt around her chest. "Just take Koromaru…a-and the dog food and leave. I'll b-be fine."

"Fuuka, I'm so—"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Fuuka cried out as she turned her body away from Shinjiro and buried her face in her hands. Shinjiro didn't realize how dark he could have gotten, and yet, he felt like an ass. He felt his hand try to reach out to her—he didn't want to leave her alone, literally, at the shrine. With Takaya and Jin still running around, who knows where they could pop up. He knew that thinking of trouble landed to trouble appearing.

Shinjiro felt himself getting exhausted and frustrated. After a few seconds of no one speaking, leaving Fuuka's last words echo through the air, he grabbed the leash that Koromaru came with and hooked him up. "Let's go, Koromaru." He spoke softly as Koromaru looked up at Fuuka. Fuuka turned her body down and towards Koromaru, her eyes flickering up strongly at Shinjiro.

"Actually, I'll take Koromaru." She spat at Shinjiro as he quickly gave her the leash, noticing a tear staining her cheek, as she began her fast paced walk towards the dorm. Shinjiro followed behind, with a considerable distance between them, as he began to kick himself in the butt.

_Minako is going to fucking kill me. She even did what she could to give me this chance. And I fucked it up, **again**._

Shinjiro's thoughts went a bit darkly, wishing deep down he could stop messing things up whenever anything is given to him. He kicked a pebble, watching it skid away from him, and knew he should be able to fix this. Granted, he just told Fuuka he didn't want to know about her life as much as she wanted to learn about his.

_Shit. She really likes me. Really **REALLY** likes me. Oh, I am screwed._

He shook his head, watching Fuuka entering the dorm as he had to readjust the dog food on his shoulder. He gulped as he could barely make out a feminine voice—as the door slammed behind her, Shinjiro knew he was doomed the moment he entered the dorm and saw Minako's back as she unhooked Koromaru from his leash. Hearing the door click, Minako turned on her heel as she threw the leash off to the couch and got up on her feet, her foot tapping as Shinjiro prepared to get yelled at.

"Shinjiro… I do _everything_ I could to get you both together. So, why is it that I see Fuuka coming in and her cheeks wet with tears?" Minako slowly said, her frustration building up inside of her, as she tried to stay calm. The glare was enough to make anyone quiver in their feet. "What happened?"

Shinjiro's head lowered as he dropped the bag of dog food right by the couch. "I just said the wrong thing. She wanted to know about the orphanage and my life and I snapped at her because she kept pushing!" He exclaimed as he pulled his beanie off, running his fingers through his hair. "I tried to apologize, but she didn't want to hear any of it."

Minako whacked the back of his head. Shinjiro winced as she felt herself rubbing her temple. "Listen, I knew Akihiko was really bad at establishing relationships, but I thought you would be a bit better. Please tell me you want, no, will fix it."

He nodded slowly as he kept his hand in his hair. "I do, but I'm not sure how. What if I fuck up again?"

Minako gave him a small smile and put her hand on his shoulder. "Well, hopefully third time's the charm—let's go to my room and we will write down ideas and talk about it. I'll make sure you don't mess up this time."

* * *

Fuuka has a hard time unlocking her door with her bedroom key. She had to wipe away the tears from her eyes as Yukari exited Mitsuru's room, talking about something related to school, as she noticed Fuuka having a hard time opening her door.

"Fuuka?" She called out as she turned her face towards Yukari, as she wiped her face again. "Let me help, okay?"

Fuuka nodded as she held up her key and backed away from her door as Yukari opened the door and turned back to Fuuka. "Thank you, Yukari." Fuuka's voice was calm as she entered the room and had Yukari stand in the entrance way.

"Fuuka, do you want to talk about it?" Yukari asked as Fuuka nodded her head, realizing that she wouldn't mind a listening ear, even if it's from the one person she wasn't expecting to help her.

After sitting down on her bed and taking a moment to try to calm herself down and relax, and blowing her nose a few times, Fuuka took a deep breath and composed herself long enough to talk to Yukari. "So, Shinjiro and I went to the shrine, to walk Koromaru because he loves the place." Yukari nodded, knowing Koromaru would go live there if he could. "We sat down and let Koromaru roam around as we talked. I mentioned my past and how I moved to the city. Shinjiro mentioned about how Akihiko-senpai and him met up, and we talked about his family as well." Fuuka stopped as she wondered if she should divulge Yukari in his past. "And then when I told him if I moved here sooner, perhaps I could have saved him from his doom that his past brought him. I then asked him why his Persona went berserk and how did he control it before I came around and—"

Yukari picked up the cue and nodded slowly. "And he got mad and basically shut you off immediately?" Fuuka nodded. "Well, Shinjiro-senpai always seemed to be the quiet looming one. You were trying to change that, and perhaps it was too much for him. Granted, I don't know him as well as our other senpais, but I could only assume. Maybe he has some demons that he doesn't want no one to know."

"But, how come I can open up and tell him about me when he won't even tell me the simplest of things, like his favorite color or food." Fuuka retorted as Yukari shook her head.

"Boys are complicated. From what I've gathered, I think you BOTH need to apologize. Him, because he should listen and not shut you down. And you, Fuuka, because you should have dropped the subject when he didn't want to answer. Then again, he tried to apologize and you wouldn't let him have a word out." Yukari crossed her arms and felt herself feeling conflicted. Should she really speak the truth? "I think you have a higher reason to apologize. Yes," she held a finger up before Fuuka could protest, "he was in the wrong. But, you didn't stop and think of the consequences, did you? And that isn't like you."

Fuuka didn't like when Yukari spoke the truth. Because most of the time, she was right. Fuuka laid back in her bed and closed her eyes, her arm draped over her eyes. "Oh no. You ARE right. I think and then speak. And yet, I spoke and didn't think about his feelings at all. Everything was so heated I just wanted to know more about him."

"Because you love him?"

"Because I lo—" Fuuka sat up quickly and felt her cheeks heating up. "I-I don't want to say those words outloud just yet. He hasn't said it to me, s-so I don't want to jinx myself." She stated matter-of-factly and turned towards Yukari. "I do, but I know he won't say it verbally. It's Shinjiro after all."

Yukari did a small nod and pulled Fuuka up to her feet and joined her. "Correct—and the only way to fix this and win his heart is by letting him know you are sorry." She walked her to the door and began to open it. "Besides, I'm sure he feels the same way."

"Really?" Fuuka asked, a small smile on her lips appeared as her heart beat a little quickly. She walked towards the door as she nodded slowly. "I should be the bigger person and apologize first." Fuuka popped her head and body out together as she saw out of the corner of her left eye Shinjiro and Minako leaving her room, smiles on their face, and a disfigured Shinjiro putting on and buttoning his pea coat.

Yukari poked her head out of Fuuka's room as she saw Fuuka standing still and looking at her left. She was about to ask until she saw Shinjiro and Fuuka's eyes locked in a heated gaze. Yukari knew this was going to be another ruined chance for Fuuka to attain happiness. Fuuka felt her hands moving together in front of her, trying her hardest to think and not act, over and over in her head. The silence was heavy and the tension was dense—Minako began to speak but Shinjiro put a hand in front of her, shaking his head and knowing he would have to explain.

"It's not—"

"—what it looks like?" Fuuka finished Shinjiro's sentence as he felt as if Fuuka's aura was becoming heated and yet, felt like a Mitsuru execution with the icy glare she gave him that was full of pain. She felt her bottom lip trembling as she felt her heart drop and her eyes swelling up with tears again. Once again, she felt weak and defenseless, all over a boy she fell for and has broken her heart.


	11. Dangerous Goods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hugely apologize for this being so late. I had this chapter done for a while, but I was trying to finish the chapter after this one--it's a fighting scene and I cannot get those down at all, so it might be ugly but I am hoping to at least make it worth the wait for that one.  
> It's a little late, but hopefully I did the pairing some justice with some fluff and them FINALLY doing something worthwhile!  
> Enjoy~

_ Chapter 11 — Dangerous Goods  _

_**September 24th** _

“It’s not—“

“—what it looks like?” Fuuka finished Shinjiro’s sentence as he felt as if Fuuka’s aura was becoming heated and yet, felt like a Mitsuru execution with the icy glare she gave him that was full of pain. She felt her bottom lip trembling as she felt her heart drop and her eyes swelling up with tears again. Once again, she felt weak and defenseless, all over a boy she fell for and has broken her heart.

“Wh-why don’t you humor me? I would  _ love _ to hear this joke.” Fuuka spoke, her lips trembling as Shinjiro saw the tears trying so hard to escape. “B-because, I don’t think I owe you an apology anymore!”

Shinjiro’s eyebrows rose and glared at her as Minako  tried to pull him  back towards her to re-focus . Shinjiro pushed Minako back gently and crossed his arms . “Oh? I think you owe  _ me  _ one! I mean, who doesn’t take **no** for an answer?  Didn’t  you inherit your parents inferiority complex and always has to be a  _ yes _ person ?”

_ Oh, my god he went there. _

Yukari thought as she got behind Fuuka as she felt that was  a  shot in the heart.  She drew a hand up to her chest as Minako chastised him. “SHINJIRO!”

Fuuka knew she did—maybe not inherit it, but  she did develop some form of it from her parents. And man, that stung hard in her chest.  She turned her head slightly away and looked up at him. “At least **I** have parents!”

Minako’s eyes grew, wondering if they inherited stupidity from each other. Shinjiro’s eyes grew as he was a bit speechless—words being spatted across the third floor dorm wasn’t getting any prettier. He clenched his fist and moved towards Fuuka—Minako was trying her hardest to stop him from being a bitter man, even  _ if _ he was. She even tried to pull him back with her strength on his peacoat.

“ You know,  _ Yamagishi _ ,” him calling Fuuka by her last name  made her hurt more—she enjoyed it whenever he called her by her first name as it felt more real and more personal , even though she wouldn’t vocalize it , “last I heard, you were still unsure of if you liked **me** or  **Iori** more—oh, wait, add  **Arisato** to that, too.”

Fuuka gulped as she felt her eyes  close tightly. Minako  whacked the back of his head with the palm of her hand. “Shinjiro! That is uncalled for! ” She turned her eyes towards Fuuka as Shinjiro rubbed the back of his head. “Fuuka, dear—“

She  opened her eyes and glared ominously towards Shinjiro. “Yeah, I guess it’s kind of hard to pick one guy to fall for someone like me. You know, someone with an inferiority complex and craves attention because I never got that at home.” Fuuka explained herself, harshly, as  Yukari could feel herself getting anxious from being around those two. “ Minako, are we heading to Tartarus tonight, per chance?”

Minako blinked, not realizing that she would be brought up so soon in the conversation. “Err, I don’t believe so . But, if you feel as if we should go—“

We _ do  _ have a full moon battle coming up, so maybe we should.” Fuuka was trying to weasel their way into Tartarus—Shinjiro had a bad, BAD feeling about this. It was as if he had an intuition, or perhaps it was his fight or flight senses going off.

“ Let’s not go tonight—half the team probably wouldn’t be ready to go on a whim, right?” Shinjiro protested as Fuuka crossed her arms. Minako nodded and turned towards Fuuka, noticing she was frowning and felt like saying no wouldn’t be the best thing to say to her. And she didn't want to get on Fuuka's bad side.

“Let me message the group—if we have a few people free, I am sure we can still go. Mitsuru-senpai would have to come with us, just in case.” Minako stated, relieved to see Fuuka didn’t mind that answer one bit. “ Give me about half an hour at least?” She turned towards Fuuka as she nodded.

Yukari eyed Shinjiro as she could see him sweating a couple bullets of sweat. She began to think what Fuuka had in mind going in short notice.  Then again, this was not like her to do something like this. But, knowing Fuuka, she knew she wouldn’t  really try to get back at Shinjiro… …would she?

* * *

“ Yamagishi, can you tell us how many floors are possibly left?” Mitsuru called out to Fuuka as she looked at the stairs and climbed it slowly with Shinjiro, Minako, and Akihiko right behind her.  Yukari and Junpei were with Fuuka, waiting for someone to trade out if they needed to for the night.  Ken, Minato, and  Koromaru decided to stay at the dorm. 

It took a few moments for Fuuka to respond as she had to concentrate. “ ** About 5-6 floors—there is ** ** another strong presence on the next floor. ** ” She stated, knowing that they were so close to finishing the next part of Tartarus. 

“That’s a relief.” Minako  mentioned, a smile appearing on her lip as she held her weapon towards her shoulder. "I am a bit tired of climbing stairs all night."

After getting to the next floor, they all could see the teleporter to the first floor—Minako turned it on carefully and, peeking out of the corner next to her, she could see the shadow down the hall as she turned her attention towards the senpais in her group. “There’s only one this time, unlike the three from before.” She explained as she  noticed Fuuka didn’t comment on the shadows. Minako took a deep breath and nodded. “Are we ready to go?”

They all nodded in agreement.  Minako and the others charged towards the shadow, getting into battle by surrounding it. Before she could ask  Fuuka about weaknesses, Shinjiro was one step ahead of her.

“Hey—is there a weakness , pattern,  or something with them?”

“ ** Oh?  ** ** Hmm… ** ” Fuuka took a moment to reply as Minako began to strengthen everyone’s d efenses. “ ** A pattern? Like, how  ** ** up close and personal you get with someone and then suddenly you blow up at them ** ** when they try to get you to open up? ** ”

“I meant about the enemy’s weakness!”

“ ** …I don’t know if I should share that with you. ** ”

Minako face palmed as Akihiko punched the shadow as Mitsuru casted a  Bufala on it next. Shinjiro could feel the anger boiling up inside as he raised his fist at Fuuka, into the air of course . “FOR FUCK’S SAKE FUUKA—!” He called out as he noticed the shadow jumping towards him, making him barely able to avoid the damage.

Mitsuru could sense the tension between both of them, even though she did not know how bad it was between them two in just one night alone. She moved over towards their leader as Akihiko and Shinjiro focused their energy on the shadow. “ Arisato , I thought those two were perfectly fine— did something happen?”

Minako could feel herself sweating  a bit from having to explain this quickly, if at all. “Perhaps we could talk about that  _ AFTER _ the fight? I  know that she’s furious at Shinjiro, so we need to be careful—who knows what could happen with her. Let’s hope nothing goes wrong.”

Mitsuru nodded as she could see that Akihiko and Shinjiro needed a moment to rest  as Minako took over and began to battle the shadow, flinging her weapon gracefully. Mitsuru began healing up Akihiko first as Shinjiro began to try to find some medicine.  Fuuka sensed that her allies were worn down,  and began to think of an idea to help them and possibly hurt Shinjiro, without a second thought. “ ** Do I need to bring out Oracle? ** ” She asked telepathically as Minako dodged an attack an d casted  Agilao at the shadow like beetle. 

Minako wiped her brow as she saw Akihiko casting  some buffing spells on everyone as she tossed him a look as he nodded. “Yeah, she should—I need  to cast more  Zio spells at him. I'm running out of SP.” He mentioned as he threw another punch at the shadow , sweat rolling down his cheeks.

Fuuka nodded  as she called out Oracle and Lucia made the surrounding area  shine bright as Minako, Mitsuru, and Akihiko felt so rejuvenated, unlike Shinjiro who was wincing in pain and fell back onto the floor, his legs  quivering in fear? or perhaps pain. Mitsuru turned her eyes towards Shinjiro, wondering if Fuuka could knowingly cause him pain through Oracle .  Fuuka felt her fingers shaking slightly with anger, pain, and sadness around her evoker —they could see the pain Shinjiro was in. Minako  gasped as she saw Shinjiro’s axe a few feet from his body as  she turned towards Mitsuru. “Akihiko and I will finish the shadow—could you take care of him?”

“Of course.” Mitsuru stated as she confidently looked through Shinjiro’s pea coat for medicine that he stocks up with for battles. She felt herself getting frustrated as she turned to  the ceiling as Shinjiro mumbled a few cursed words softly. “Yamagishi—you and Aragaki need to **fix** your attitude with each other. You could have gotten more of us hurt!”

Fuuka felt herself getting flustered, not realizing how badly her emotions  played into how Oracle would react. She felt a bit ashamed as she could sense Mitsuru  talking to everyone else once the shadow was defeated . Fuuka felt her words getting caught up in her throat, unsure of what to say. Mitsuru broke the silence with simply saying: “Let’s head back to the first floor. We made good progress today.”

Minako nodded as she could see her senpais helping Shinjiro up  carefully. She felt her cheeks heating up as she couldn’t imagine what would happen next—she turned the teleporter on and within seconds, they were back on the first floor.  Yukari covered her lips as she could see what Fuuka did, without knowing?, as she used a  Patra gem on Shinjiro. He blinked a few times, a bit relieved to see Yukari, as Fuuka released  Lucia  and could feel Mitsuru’s eyes on her.  The icy glare could freeze up anyone. 

But it was Shinjiro who came to her first as Mitsuru looked on carefully. “What. _The Fuck_. Was **THAT**!? You c ould have **killed me** up there Fuuka!” He yelled as Fuuka winced a bit, wishing Mitsuru did her icy execution right about now. An icy glare was and death was better than being burned in hell by words. Shinjiro held his head and stopped short in front of Fuuka. “ And why does  Takeba have the  Patra gems? Was  ** THAT ** your plan too?” Fuuka began to open her mouth as Shinjiro continued his rampage as he pulled his beanie off his head, gripping it in his hand. “ Oh, and another thing:  if you wanted me dead, just serve me your food—it will do the job easily!” He  reaches for Fuuka’s right shoulder blade, gripping it a bit tightly, and pushed her as he felt anger pulsating out of him. 

_I-I...I forgot the Patra gems--...oh no. Oh I am **such** an idiot!_

Fuuka thought silently; seeing Junpei and  Yukari eyeing each other as Minako reached her hand out towards Shinjiro.  “Hey, senpai, I think you got the point across —no need to get aggressive…” Minako spoke as she didn't know who to try to calm down first--Shinjiro, or Fuuka?

Fuuka tried to stand her ground as she felt tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She gulped silently and looked up at Shinjiro. “I-If you were going to be committed to Minako-chan, you should have told ME!  I mean, you are pretty shady wh-when it comes to not telling me anything!”

Shinjiro crossed his arms as he felt Fuuka trying to shove him. He didn’t even move an inch. She gritted her teeth and stomped her foot on the ground as she stopped trying to push him. 

“ Last I checked, you couldn’t even decide if you wanted to  even bother with me.  I believe you are shadier than me, Fuuka.”

“Well takes one to know one!  And  Ken-kun can tell more convincing lies, Shinjiro.”

Mitsuru could feel a vein pulsating in her forehead. Akihiko sensed he should get between them before Mitsuru does. He pushed Fuuka carefully to the side as he  stood in front of Shinjiro. “Stop it—both of you.”

“Seems like Aki want s to help you out, Fuuka.”

“ENOUGH!” Mitsuru’s voice rang through and echoed off the walls as everyone turned to her. Shinjiro felt a chill running down his neck as she moved towards them. “I do not care if you are having a lover’s spat—“

“As if he would care—“

“ —Yamagishi, it would be wise to not talk right now.”

Fuuka covered her lips as she felt her head lower in submission. Mitsuru turned to  Yukari , Junpei, and Minako as she crossed her arms. “I will be implementing a punishment for Aragaki and Yamagishi, starting tomorrow night.  For one week. Now, I need one of you to give me an idea for their punishment— it has to include both of them. Yamagishi endangered Aragaki’s life as well as forgetting to equip our crew with items for battle. Whereas Aragaki  tried to take matters into his own hands and didn’t try to resolve any problems before tonight’s  adventure.”

The three of them sat on the idea for a moment as Shinjiro began to complain. “I am **NOT** doing the girl’s laundry for a week!”

Mitsuru glared at Shinjiro as she held two fingers up. “I can make it _two weeks_ .” Shinjiro felt his head lower and kept himself quiet down quickly. 

“How about cleaning and uptake with the whole dorm?”  Yukari suggested. “I know we have some cobwebs.”

Mitsuru turned back to  Yukari and nodded. “The height differences would help each other. What about you  Iori ?”

He put his hands on his hips and sighed heavily. “I  really don’t have a clue. I’m not good with this shit. Besides, I don't wanna get on their bad sides, senpai. Sorry. ”

Minako nodded and held up a finger. “How about  working on the fourth floor with the monitors? I’ve been mentioning to Fuuka that when I’ve gone up there, the monitors short-circuit and won’t record stuff. Maybe it needs to be updated?” She turned towards Mitsuru. “Fuuka can fix the stuff, and Shinjiro-san can observe her for her safety. It sounds silly though.”

Mitsuru smiled and turned towards Fuuka and Shinjiro. For some reason, she was satisfied with that response. “That is a brilliant idea. Aragaki doesn’t have to go to school, so he can stay up a couple nights to make sure the cameras and monitors are still working—Yamagishi will stay with him a couple nights, if it’s not a school night. If the monitors  do go down, Yamagishi will be there to fix it. No matter the time. And each night will require less attention from the first.” She  walked towards them both as they could hear her heels clicking with the floor below. Slowly, they lift their heads and  got prepared for the worst. “Since it’s a Friday night into a Saturday morning, this will be implemented t onight . It will start at 11pm until  2am, with a half an hour cut off each day until after the Dark Hour ends. Do I make myself clear?”

They quickly nodded as Fuuka held her hand up carefully, not wanting to interrupt her. “ I-If I need parts…?”

“Then take what you need from the shed or other spare parts.  Or let me know. I’ll supply you with them.” Mitsuru answered quickly, making Fuuka nod and lower her hand to her side. She rubbed her arm as Mitsuru turned to the other well-behaved members of SEES. “Let’s leave for tonight.  Also, we will have no Tartarus exploration until a week from now. If Yamagishi is unable to come, we cannot come either.”

Akihiko groane d as Junpei came from behind and walked with him, patting his back. “It’s just one week—you will live, senpai.” Junpei stated, letting out a small laugh as  Yukari rolled her eyes and followed behind them. 

Fuuka followed behind as she held her arm down at her side and felt Mitsuru following her. She could feel the ice creeping up her neck as she bit her lip—Fuuka  never knew what it felt like to be on her bad side. And now, she wished she wasn’t. Minako and Shinjiro trailed behind as he put his beanie back on and grunted. Minako  walked a bit faster and was a few paces ahead of him, looking up at Shinjiro’s face as she began to walk backwards. 

“You better tell her about everything, Shinjiro.  Because you have at least one night where you both will be alone and I swear you better not mess this up.” Minako uttered softly as Shinjiro rolled his eyes and put his hands in his pocket. “ She likes you, a lot. Her emotions got to her. So, she’s taking the blunt of this . Especially from Mitsuru.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” Shinjiro frowned as he rubbed his eyebrows and tilted his head back, letting out a heavy sigh. “I don’t want her to fall for me.  I can’t let her.”

Minako slowed down as she put her hand on his arm. “Shinjiro…  if you got to let her down, do it tonight. In front of her. Without anyone knowing—“

“But…”

“But what?”

He sighed and tilted his head to the side. “…but what if I enjoy her presence?  And enjoy—“

“Her liking you back?”

Shinjiro sighed, as if he was being read like a book to Minako. “Is it that obvious?”

She let out a small chuckle and  touched his forehead. “It was once you started to treat her hand _and_ when she was vulnerable with Lucia attacking her. You grounded her back to reality when you don’t realize it.”

Shinjiro never thought of it like that. 

_ I just thought that was me saving her life. Never realized I brought her back to reality. And  _ _ maybe she grounded me back to reality, too. _

He was deep in thought as he tried to catch up to Minako and looked down at her as he caught his breath. “ …was she trying to flirt with me and I was to o oblivious?”

“Well, her flirting isn’t all that strong compared to yours. Actually you both need help there, but I’m sure when you guys actually try to get somewhere, maybe  it will become more natural.”

“You think so?”

“I think if Akihiko can do it, you can do it too, Shinjiro. ”

* * *

**_September 25th_ **

After a grueling day just expecting the worse, Fuuka and Shinjiro finally met up on the fourth floor at 11pm, on the dot, to see a somewhat pleased Mitsuru. “Glad to see you both made it—now, I am hoping that you both will reconcile in a timely manner.” She eyed Shinjiro, making him tense up a bit, and then back at Fuuka as she felt herself tensing up subconsciously. “If Yamagishi needs help,  _ help her _ Aragaki—and vice versa.” She unlocked the door and handed the key to Shinjiro. “Have a good evening.”

She walked out behind them and closed the door. The moment the door closed, Fuuka turned towards the monitor and noticed Mitsuru left them some items. “She gave us snacks, and some wires and tools for me.” She stated softly as she reached down for a finger sandwich and felt herself tensing up while near Shinjiro. Fuuka could smell Shinjiro moving closer to her as she closed her eyes and quickly swallowed the finger food.

“Huh. Ham and  swiss . Not like Mitsuru—thought she’d do sushi or something more elegant-like.” He reached for a small sandwich and looked up at the monitor with Fuuka. He noticed a couple cameras seemed a bit static or the video quality wasn’t all that good. “So, can you fix this?”

“Only if you will help.” Fuuka uttered as she didn’t specify for the current situation or just their relationship in general. She knew that the wiring might’ve been fried, but then again she bit her lip and turned towards him. She knew she had to ask. “Shinjiro, will you explain what your relationship is with Minako? I... ...I don’t want...”

“She was actually helping me fix up _our_ relationship, or whatever we have going on between us.” He stated quickly as he pulled his pea coat off and threw it onto the couch nearby. Fuuka was clothed with some pink pajama bottoms, long enough to cover her legs, and a t-shirt that  Yukari gave her since she didn’t like it—even if it was a white top and a little big on her. “And, well, you saw me coming out—you didn’t even let me explain, Fuuka--!”

“It  _ looked _ kind of bad, Shinjiro.” Fuuka spatted as she reached for some tools and began to look for wire strippers and wire cutters. She also grabbed a flashlight and lowered her head. “I was emotionally in a bad place, to be honest.” She stated as she moved around to the back of the monitor, getting on her knees, and climbing behind the machine. “I am still a bit mad at you, Shinjiro.”

Shinjiro crossed his arms as he moved the tools down to Fuuka and sat down, messing with the monitor. “Why? I thought we were good.” He explained as Fuuka wished her legs were long enough to kick him. He felt the small breeze as he knew he had to be careful.

_ I need to shut the fuck up and listen to her. _

“B-but, I know we aren’t. I... I don’t even know where the hell we are now.” Shinjiro quickly added, trying to work his way around not blowing Fuuka up anymore. He began to press a couple buttons and looked at the monitors, wondering what he was seeing. “Anyway, it looks like your camera in your room, and my room... ...wait, why don’t  ** I ** have a camera in my room?”

Fuuka began stripping a wire and seeing how badly fried it was. “Huh? You don’t have one? That’s odd. Maybe too many cameras are overwhelming the system. I think  Aigis-san doesn’t have one either...” She pointed out as she sighed. ”The wires are burned—I can try to fix the connection for now, but Mitsuru-senpai needs to get more wires.”

Shinjiro leaned up towards the video and could faintly see flowers in the video and someone moving in the middle. He covered his lips as he tried to stifle a laugh. “Hey, uh, Fuuka...” He snickered and tried to turn up the volume. “So, is the sound busted as well?”

Fuuka moved more into the back of the monitor as her feet could barely be seen from behind. “It shouldn’t be. Mitsuru-senpai mentioned the cameras are not doing so well and the recording equipment  might be broken--...why? Wait—why are you--”

Shinjiro turned the volume up as Fuuka gasped as she could hear the sound of the machine that was wrapped around her stomach a couple months ago. “NO!” She cried out as she tried to get out of the monitor fast as Shinjiro could feel his lips forming an evil smile and felt his stomach hurting from trying to not laugh. Fuuka actually fixed her camera in her room while fixing the monitor that was viewing her recording.

**_ “ _ ** **_ Wh-wh-why _ ** **_ won’t it come off...? Hahaha... _ ** **_ noooo _ ** **_!” _ **

“Shinjiro, you BETTER turn that off right now!” She cried out as she could feel her knees leaving the machine and beginning her way out of the monitor’s wires.

“Mitsuru came and knocked on the door!? I  ** have  ** to ask her about this!” He cried out, tears coming out of his eyes as he couldn’t stop laughing. 

**_ “Is this... what it means... to t-train... your ABS?” _ **

Fuuka finally pushed herself out as she had carpet burn on her knee as she reached over to Shinjiro and leaned over the monitor, pausing the video as she harshly glared at Shinjiro. “Do.  _No_ _t._ TALK to Mitsuru-senpai about this.”

Shinjiro grinned as Fuuka looked over at him, not realizing he had never heard him laugh so loudly—his smile was something that threw her for a whirl. Fuuka felt her cheeks heating up as she wondered if he even knew he was so vulnerable like this. But that smile of his just made her heart melt.

“Do you still have the belt?”

_ And  _ **_ there _ ** _ it is. _

“ Yes , I washed it and put it in storage. Might be good for a gag gift—OF COURSE I threw it away!” She groaned as she turned around, her back towards Shinjiro as she looked up at the monitors. “Even though, it looks a bit better—I need to get more wires or tell senpai to upgrade her equipment. Might just fry the wires again.” Fuuka uttered softly as she began to tap some buttons on the keyboard in front of her.

Shinjiro took a few more seconds to calm down as he realized how happy he was to see her in such a position—then, _and now_. He felt himself getting choked up with her behind in his general area and got to really admire her body. Shinjiro noticed the belt might not have done a lot, but he noticed she was more petite than before. On top of it, she seemed to take good care of her body and he admired her dedication. And yet, before he knew it, he saw his hands ready to wrap around her tiny waist. Shinjiro caught himself before he continued onward—he wondered if it would be appropriate.

_ Hell, why should it matter? We like each other, right? Should I even take the first step? _

In a blink of an eye, the lights shut off and the Dark Hour began. It took both of them by surprise—not realize how fast an hour happened while they were together. Fuuka felt her heart pitter-patter in her chest as she sighed. “I forgot about the Dark Hour, just for a while.” She mentioned as the room was dimly lit from the moon outside and from the monitor that still worked while in the Dark Hour. Fuuka let down her guard as she felt Shinjiro’s arms latch around her waist, her breath leaving her chest as she felt goosebumps going up and down her arms.

“You don’t need any machine or something to make you slimmer. You are... _ perfect _ the way you are.” Shinjiro whispered into her ear as Fuuka felt her body falling into his lap. She felt her cheeks heating up as she kept forgetting how warm Shinjiro was—she never knew the reason why.

“Sh... ...shinjiro?” She whispered as she felt herself getting warmer all around her body. Fuuka felt herself getting a bit flustered as Fuuka felt Shinjiro’s lips near her earlobe. 

His arms wrapped tighter around her waist as he laid his head on her shoulder. Shinjiro felt himself exploding inside as he began to wear his heart on his sleeve . Carefully, he whispered into her ear little nothings. “Fuuka, you don’t need to change yourself for anyone. Especially  _ me _ .” He murmured as she felt herself melting into his arms. She touched his hands with her own as she watched his legs spread apart so she could be more comfortable in his lap. 

Carefully, Shinjiro moved down towards Fuuka’s neck and began to suck on it gently. His left hand moved up towards her chest as one of her own hands followed and placed it on top of his. She let out a light gasp as she could feel his lips on her neck—it was a unique feeling, and was surprised how bold Shinjiro was to let down his guard. Fuuka craved to have the courage he had. Her body’s instincts made her move her neck a little to expose herself more as Shinjiro felt his cheeks heating up and changing colors. He gulped as he never got this far with anyone; no one even told him what to do with a girl. And he was excited and thrilled and wanted to shower Fuuka with love.

He carefully began to suck and nibble on her neck, letting the soft noises leave Fuuka’s mouth without a care in the world. Fuuka closed her eyes, never realizing that her neck was so sensitive, and yet so perfect for Shinjiro’s lips. His hand grabbed her breast tenderly, realizing that she was bigger than she showed-- _did she do that on purpose?_ , he thought. She felt her hand trailing down his arm and gripping it a little once he used some of his teeth on her. But, when the little moan escaped her lips, Shinjiro stopped and realized he was getting aroused as quickly as he was making Fuuka aroused.

_ Oh, shit. ...shit shit shit shit—my boner is not going down—! _

His face was as cool as a cucumber as Shinjiro carefully turned Fuuka around in his lap—her  legs separating into the cushion of the chair as he never noticed how odd it was to see Fuuka’s cheeks tainted with the color red. It took him a moment to respond, to form coherent words in front of her. And watching her legs wrap around his waist--it was starting to become too much for him to handle. “Fuuka,” he rested his hand on her cheek as he saw her staring in his eyes, “can I continue?” 

_ I... ...I’ve never gotten this far with him. He’s serious. I can tell. _

She gulped and nodded slowly. Shinjiro was not expecting her to go on with this—then again, she was different from the others. Quiet, subdue, brilliant , and yet he loved her. A lot. 

“Fuuka...” He whispered as he carefully leaned towards her lips, “ I care  _ so much _ about you.” He hovered above her lips, just for a moment, as Shinjiro’s eyes wandered towards the other side of her neck and began to nibble on it gently. Fuuka felt herself becoming overpowered by Shinjiro until she felt his hands going underneath her shirt, itching to have their skin make contact more and more.

_ What if Mitsuru-senpai comes thru that door? What if someone interrupts us now? What if a shadow appears and we can’t find it? What if—what if—what if—! _

Fuuka gasped as she pushed her hands towards Shinjiro’s hand, leading up to her chest as she gripped it tightly and her eyes grew in worry. She felt herself getting choked up with tears as she knew she ruined this moment for them both. Shinjiro broke out of his trance and didn’t realize that Fuuka  was crying as his eyes darted over her body in fear that he did something wrong.

“Shit--Fuuka, are you okay? D-did I hurt you?” He asked, worry in his voice as she shook her head and let her tears silently fall. 

“I-it’s not you, it’s m-me...” She whispered as she began to wipe her tears away but Shinjiro, becoming more suave by the minute, wiped her tears away for her with his thumb. Shinjiro let her take a moment to catch her breath, as he could see the worry in her eyes. “I’m sorry...”

He knew he had to help her with grounding herself back to reality. “Hey, hold my hand.” He whispered as she felt another tear coming out of her eye and held his hand tenderly. “Now, remember what we did when we had to deal with Lucia?” Fuuka nodded slowly, but then shook her head. “Just...lay your head on my chest—use my heartbeat to calm yours down.”

Fuuka blinked a few times as she leaned herself down onto his chest, sniffing her nose, as she could faintly hear his heart beating. It took her a moment to calm down, but her sobbing went into a sniffles, and then slowly into nothing. Fuuka felt her tears slowly going away as she wrapped her arms quickly around Shinjiro’s chest. He slowly moved his hand down her head and petting her forehead, hushing her quietly as the slight hum from the machines kept quiet and low. She felt herself calming down more as she knew what he was doing--she was surprised to see he knew HOW to do it in the first place.

Fuuka bit her lip and looked up at Shinjiro. “I... ...you  _ do _ care for me, Shinjiro...”

“I am sorry I pushed you. I guess I craved you more than I thought.” He uttered, his cheeks still red as he knew his boner was still slightly erect—he would hope it was unnoticeable by Fuuka of all people. “If I do that again, you have all the right to punch me.”

Fuuka let out a small giggle and shook her head. “I...I just want to take it slow—” She looked up at him as she would just love to stay in his arms for another minute or two. “...I care for you Shinjiro, a lot. A-and I am so  _ so _ sorry for hurting you. I was so upset that Minako and you were coming out of her room and I thought we were building up into something nice and I wanted to cry and punch you and--”

Shinjiro put a finger to her lips. “I could feel your frustrations in your Oracle. No need to tell me twice, Fuuka. I just don’t want anything or anyone to come between us, okay?” He asked as Fuuka nodded quickly, holding up her pinkie finger. “...this again?”

“Yes,  _ this again _ . Because I like doing pinkie promises.” She softly glared at him as she could feel his pinkie wrapping around hers. Fuuka felt her heart skipping a beat as she wondered where they could even go from here. “Shinjiro, will you watch my back if I watch yours?”

“I pinkie swear that I won’t let anything happen to you.  ** You ** are very important to us, especially to me.”

Shinjiro saw something in the corner of his eye—he saw some thing moving on the monitor quickly. He almost had to do a double take as he thought it was a bug or something. Before he could question Fuuka, the door opened up and Junpei was panting as if something had chased him all the way up stairs.

“FUUUUUUUUUUUKA! I need your help!!” He yelled as Shinjiro and Fuuka jumped and Shinjiro instinctively pushed Fuuka off of him and  she landed almost face first into the floor—her knees caught the blow and she leaned down with a sweat drop forming down her face. 

_ Junpei. I will be sure to get you back one day.  _

Fuuka thought as Junpei felt his cheeks heating  up as he had no clue he was interrupting something important. He gulped as he saw Shinjiro’s eyes glare harshly at him.  Fuuka took a moment to catch her breath and turned her head towards him, glare at him carefully as well. “What do you need **HELP** with, Junpei?”

“I, er—“

“I didn’t sense shadows,  sooooo …?”

“I woke up, and uhhh,  I sp lit some water on some of my keyboard… a-and well, I thought you might h-have a spare keyboard laying around.”

Shinjiro  stared a bit more at Junpei as he wanted to facepalm him into the ground. Fuuka took a deep breath and soften her eyes a bit. “ Mind if I look tomorrow? It’s still the Dark Hour for another few more minutes and I’m up here for another hour .”

“Y-yeah,” he gulped as he reached for the doorknob, “I’ll be sure to text ya first.”

“ That…would be wise.” Fuuka kept her eyes to the ground as Junpei carefully backed out of the room and closed the door. 

Shinjiro turned his eyes back to the monitor and his hand went towards his pocket as he felt something cold in his hand. He pulled out a set of keys as he realized he could have locked the door and made everything a bit more private. 

_ Annnnnnnnd _ _ I fucked up again. Fuck.  _

He hid the keys back in his pocket, hoping Fuuka didn’t hear them. She got up, grunting a bit as Shinjiro remembered he  yeeted Fuuka to the ground in such a haste. He got up from his chair and began to reach over to her. “ Shit—I didn’t mean to throw you like that. I’m sorry, Fuuka.”

She shook her head and got up slowly, waving her hand at him. “It’s fine. I don’t think Junpei would say anything anyway—not if he values his keyboard’s life. Then again, he did damage it.” Fuuka mentioned as she rubbed the temples of her forehead as the Dark Hour came to an end and the room brighten up once more. 

Feeling the awkwardness around the room,  she stared up at Shinjiro, knowing the tension in the room was still there. She couldn’t put her finger on it , but she could feel  there was something more she wanted—she didn’t feel  pleased, which was odd for her. She didn’t realize how badly she wanted this moment alone with Shinjiro and that she might not ever get this alone with him again. 

_ Then again, we are on punishment duty for the next week.  _

Fuuka bit her lip and looked away. “ I feel as if we have resolved our differences.”

“Yeah. ” Shinjiro murmured as he reached for his pea coat and turned back to face Fuuka as  he saw her put her hand to her chest. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

She shook her head. “I just forgot how strong you were.” Fuuka wasn’t in any pain—she just couldn’t get her heart to stop beating quickly.  In the rush of it all, he touched her chest and she didn’t know  how to react—aroused and startled. Being both right about now didn’t help Fuuka focus. 

**_ This is one night you guys will be alone. You have to tell her everything.  _ **

Shinjiro remembered Minako’s words and wondered if he should tell her everything. 

_ If I do, would it changed everything? Would she be on me and never let me go? But, I’d like that. The attention I would crave because it would _ _ be _ _ serene and sincere.  _ _ I’m fucked, aren’t I? _

“Hey, Fuuka?” 

She  blinked and woke out of her stupor and turned towards Shinjiro. “Sorry, I was in a bit of a daze—what is it?”

“Listen,” Shinjiro began as he felt himself ready to trip over his own words, “ do you…know **why** I wear this long pea coat that I only seem to have one of?”

“I’m sure it’s medical related, right?”

“You can say that. Not many  people know why—Mitsuru and maybe Akihiko knows. And,” he moved closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder gently, “ I feel as if you should know.”

Fuuka’s eyes soften up a bit.  So many things were racing thru her mind, knowing her parents were doctors that maybe something they said would pop out at her and could help Shinjiro.  But, his eyes filled with worry.  He felt his words getting lost, escaping his lips, as he just instinctively pulled Fuuka into a tight hug.  She felt a breath of air escape her lungs as she felt her arms move up towards his back and rubbed his back in small circles.

“Shinjiro?” She whispered as  he hushed her. 

“…the reason as to why I wear that pea coat is because I cannot regulate my body’s temperature. I’m consistently cold and I don’t sweat as much as I used to.” Shinjiro slowly began to explain, trying his hardest to keep it simple and to the point. “Mitsuru has had doctors examine me bi weekly, to try to find why my body is, in laymen’s terms, going out of control.”

Fuuka listened carefully, waiting for the inevitable bad news.  “They haven’t found out why, right?” She asked as Shinjiro huffed and shook his head. Fuuka looked up at him with her arms down at her sides. “ So that’s why you were there the one day where Junpei—“

“ **That** was a coincidence. But, besides that, I just thought you’d wanted to know. You…you wanted to know more  about my health and how I was and I shut you down. Harshly. And I’m sorry for that. ” He apologized and lowered his head. Fuuka was a bit startled that he was going to apologize for that—and only after a day or two. 

_ Yukari _ _ was right. Maybe he needed to let some steam out.  _

Fuuka carefully reaches up to his face, cupping his cheek, and smiled earnestly at him. “Thank you, Shinjiro.  If you need me to  do anything to help you—“

Shinjiro lowered her hand from his cheek and cupped her cheek back in return . “All I can ask you to do for me, is to just be by my side.”  He leaned down , removing his hand from  her cheek, and before Fuuka could say anything, he kissed her lips, chastely, and once more  since he wanted to experience the taste of her lips again. 

He carefully pulled away as Fuuka’s cheeks were  brightly pink—she touched her lips as she almost forgot what the kiss  tasted like. Her heart was pounding quickly as she didn’t know how to react. She didn’t show disgust, but leaning more towards  happiness and giddiness.  Shinjiro let the silence in the air hang for a moment more as he noticed it was only a little after 1 in the morning. 

“Go on and head to bed.” He calmly said, his cheeks a bit red at how bold he was. “I’ll keep an eye on the monitors—I’ll cover for you.”

Fuuka nodded as she  felt herself unable to move. Only because she kept thinking about the kiss—how his lips tasted soft and smooth, and it was over before she knew it. “…thank you…” she whispered as she  moved around Shinjiro to clean up her mess, knowing she’ll be back at it tomorrow night. Fuuka almost felt  herself tripping over anything as she tried to maintain her focus.  Getting on her knees, she tried to clean up her mess the best she could. Turning around and standing back on her feet, Fuuka saw that Shinjiro was focused on the monitors as he  was sitting back in his chair. 

She put her hand to her chest, took a deep breath, and walked over to Shinjiro once more. “Please get some sleep, for me.”  She leaned down towards him and kissed his cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.” She smiled as she walked towards the door, opening and closing it slowly as she walked out towards the staircase. 

Fuuka leaned against the wall near her as she felt herself ready to expose their kiss to Minako, but she knew she couldn’t. 

_ We haven’t even said I love you yet! God, we are doomed. But, what if he doesn’t like me like that? But that kiss was a twofer—he didn’t kiss me once but TWICE! _

She covered her cheeks with her hands as she walked down the stairs and towards her room on the next floor.  She stopped for a moment as  saw Minako sitting at her door. “Minako-chan ? Are you okay? Why are you up?” Fuuka questioned as Minako rubbed her eyes and looked at her watch. 

“I thought you had another half an hour left?”

“Shinjiro told me to head on back—he will cover for me. What is that?” Fuuka saw something shiny  in her hands as Minako nodded, giving it to Fuuka. 

“I was given this  from Officer K urosawa . He said he found it in the lost and found about a week ago.  I kept it for this last few days because I thought I knew someone who could fix it. Unfortunately , the old lady I gave it to didn’t have the parts and couldn’t fix it.”  Minako explained as she covered Fuuka’s hands with the watch. She smiled softly. “ I then tried to fix it myself and then I realized  that you might be able to.”

“It might take me a couple days, but I am sure I can do it.  Unless you need it back sooner?”

Minako shook her head and grinned. “ No,  I think you should keep it . Also,” Minako removed her hands from Fuuka’s and backed away, “ it’s kinda neat to have something so beat up. Don’t you think? Maybe save it for a gift for someone if you don’t want it.”

Fuuka opened the watch, noticing the  worn down  look of it.  Her fingers traced over the smooth surface, surprised it still looks so good.  She felt her lips forming a small smile and looked back to Minako. “I appreciate this, but why wait until now to give it to me?”

“Well,  I didn’t mean for that to happen. I thought it would be something to pass time with while with Shinjiro.” She mentioned, noticing Fuuka’s cheeks tinting pink with his name . A smirk appeared on her lips as she continued .  “And I thought you’d know more. I just wanted to give it a shot and see if I could fix it.  I should have given this to you sooner.”

“I’ll appreciate this.  Hopefully I can fix this quick— I’d like to keep this around as a keepsake.”

“Good. As for now, I’m heading back to bed. My head aches  from trying to figure out how to read how to fit it online. Good luck, Fuuka-chan.” Minako rubbed her temples and gave her a small wave goodbye as t hey departed to each other’s rooms. 

Entering her room quietly with the aroma of lavender keeping her relaxed, she placed the watch next to her bed and sat down on her bed. She looked at it again, wondering how someone could lose something so valuable and yet so heavy. 

_ With all the clock work inside of it, it’s an old piece of history. I’ll be lucky to find the pieces for it. Maybe dad would have some? Then again, he hasn’t talked to me since I joined SEES and lived in the dorm.  _ _ I am sure I can ask around and see if I can find some wise, older gentleman to fix this for me or at least find me the parts.  _

Fuuka began to lay down in her sheets, turning the lights off next to her and looked up at the ceiling.  Every time she closed her eyes,  she kept tasting Shinjiro’s lips  on top of hers. Her fingers shot up to her  lips and her cheeks became ablaze with embarrassment and yet, and odd feeling in her chest. She never felt it—perhaps it was arousal?— and was a bit scared to asked Minako. Only because she KNEW she would blab to Akihiko and Akihiko will freak out. Maybe a little. 

And then her eyes open up and she could remember what it felt like when he touched —and then she  moved her hands to the left side of her neck. She forgot that he might have given her a  a decent size hickey they way he was going at her neck. Fuuka gulped as she was going to have to wear  turtlenecks for the next few days. She put her hands over her cheeks as she  tried to go to sleep, knowing this might keep her up for the rest of the night. 

* * *

**_November ~ Full Moon_ **

It had grown quiet inside of Fuuka’s hospital room. The only things attached to her was an IV, heart monitor, and  a  blood pressure cuff.  Aigis looked out the window, barely able to see the Moonlight Bridge from Fuuka’s hospital window, as she began to pace around the room. Mitsuru left her a note to follow the instructions for Fuuka waking up, IF she woke up tonight.  They knew they needed her tonight as it was massively crucial for SEES to eliminate the next and final shadow. 

Aigis turned her eyes back to Fuuka, and then to the clock above her head. “Another minute until midnight.” She also eyed Fuuka’s school uniform, shoes, socks, and SEES armband, as well as her evoker ready for her. “I do hope Shinjiro-san is correct about her .” She murmured softly, hoping that he was right about something good happening to them.  Hearing the ticks from the clock made  Aigis a bit worried—once she looked up again and realized it was 10 seconds until midnight, the ticks seemed to have gotten louder and louder until—

Fuuka’s eyes darted open, shooting up quickly from her bed as she looked panicked and worried. “S-Strega…! I-I sense—“ she gasped as she looked over at  Aigis . “ Aigis …!”

"It’s good to see you awake, Fuuka-san.” A bright smile appeared on her lips as  Fuuka blinked a few times, looking down at the IV in her hand and back at  Aigis .  “I know this is quite sudden, but are you able to fight with us?”

Fuuka turned her head towards the window and noticed it was the Dark Hour. “It’s a Full Moon. I… I’ve been  down for a month?” She stated rhetorically, and  Aigis nodded her head without needing to. Fuuka turned her head back to  Aigis . “Where is everyone?”

“ I assume at Moonlight Bridge. Mitsuru-san could barely sense a strong force over there an hour ago, so they decided to head over there.”

“…is everyone okay? S-since I’ve been gone...?”

“We could only traverse  a few floors and stayed closer to the previous block in Tartarus. Everyone  had to rely on Mitsuru-san being the navigator.  It’s been rough, but we’ve even coping.”

Fuuka put her hand to her chest, feeling some scars  and stitches on her chest.  Her  heart pounded as she felt a smile appear on her lips. “Thank goodness.”

Aigis touched Fuuka’s hand slowly, relieved to feel a pulse, and beginning to emoved the blood pressure cuff and heart monitor—she left the stickers to Fuuka. “Are you able to get dressed and head  to battle? I’m going to take you on my back and get there quicker.”

She looked at her hand, knowing removing the needle is going to sting as she touched  Aigis ’ hand tenderly and nodded quickly. “ The faster I get there,  the better.” She pulled the tape off of her hand and in one swift motion, pulled the needle out,  clicked the needle into the  flexible tube with blue butterfly wings, winced  and reached for a tissue to stop the minor bleeding. “ Let’s go.”


End file.
